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LONDON: British fishermen said on Saturday (December 26) that Prime Minister Boris Johnson had sold fish stocks to the European Union with a Brexit trade deal that gives EU vessels significant access to rich fishing waters. from United Kingdom.
Some British politicians also said the deal amounted to a sale.
The UK will abandon the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy on December 31, but under the trade deal agreed on Christmas Eve, the current rules will largely remain for a 5½-year transition period. After that period, there will be annual consultations to establish the level and conditions for EU access to British waters.
The National Federation of Fishermen’s Organizations said Johnson had sacrificed the fishing industry. For example, he said, the UK’s share of Celtic Sea haddock will rise from 10% to 20%, leaving 80% in the hands of the EU fleets for a further five years.
“In the end, the prime minister made the call and gave in on the fish, despite the rhetoric and assurances,” the group said. “Of course, there will be an extensive public relations exercise to present the deal as a fabulous victory, but the fishing industry will inevitably see it as a defeat.”
READ: Brexit trade deal released as UK calls for end of ‘ugly’ divisions
The British government said the trade deal reflected the UK’s new position as a sovereign independent coastal state and provided for a significant increase in the quota for UK fishermen, equivalent to 25 percent of the value of the EU catch in UK waters.
“This is worth 146 million pounds for the UK fleet staggered over five years,” the British government said. “It ends the dependence of the UK fleet on the unfair ‘relative stability’ mechanism enshrined in the EU Common Fisheries Policy, and increases the share of the total catch taken in UK waters by UK vessels to about two-thirds “.
But Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon, leader of the Scottish National Party, said Johnson had “sold the Scottish catch again.”
“Promises that they knew could not be kept, duly broken,” Sturgeon said.
“It’s a sell-off,” said Ian Blackford, leader of the SNP party in the British Parliament. “The British government of Boris Johnson has signed an agreement guaranteeing long-term access for EU ships.”
Fishing contributed just 0.03 per cent of British economic output in 2019, but many Brexiters see it as a symbol of the regained sovereignty that they say exiting the EU brings.
Combined with fish and shellfish processing, the sector accounts for 0.1% of UK GDP.
