Friday 18 March 2016

Remain or Leave?: The impact on the fishing industry



Good to see a main news channel pick up on the EU referendum story with regard to the fishing industry - correspondent Martin Geissler puts the idea out there that the case for Brexit is not quite as simple as many would love to believe.


Analysis from ITV News correspondent Martin Geissler:
I've been coming to this corner of Scotland for more than 20 years, speaking to trawlermen and hearing their concerns.
They are passionate people, many are from families who have fished these They have a long list of gripes, all directed at the EU, an institution that's strangling them, or so they claim.
Many see June's referendum as a huge opportunity. A chance to "give Britain back control of its own waters".
But the reality of a Brexit wouldn't be as straightforward as they might like to believe.
They would still face fishing quotas, which would be negotiated by the same politicians they've long accused of letting them down. They'd still have to trade with our European neighbours - a massive market for our fishing industry.
And they'd almost certainly still have to share waters with boats from other countries, who'd have the right to fish there too.
There are few guarantees in any of this, and the vote comes just as the industry is enjoying increasing profits.
After long, lean years, the tide finally seems to be turning for a once embattled industry, making this decision, perhaps, harder than it might have been before.
– MARTIN GEISSLER