The life of Newlyn trawlerman Mike Mahon - Part III.

Parliamentary candidate for UKIP

In the concluding part of his conversation with Mike ‘Grimmy’ Mahon, Phil Lockley reveals how press coverage of Grimmy’s political stunts to aid Britain’s escape from ‘the tyranny of Brussels’ was, in all likelihood, the best-ever unpaid promotion for the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP)

A one man floating protest Grimmy talking to the End of the Line filmmaker.

Following his Canadian flag success, Grimmy set his sights on bigger things and, like his pal, skipper Mick Faulkner from Newlyn, saw Nigel Farage, the then leader of UKIP, as someone who might one day take Britain out of the EU. Though privately they must have thought that he had little chance of actually doing so, they fought with all their political strength to help UKIP achieve what it did.

Grimmy before the start of his 2004 voyage from Newlyn to the House of Commons aboard his 29ft trawler, J-Anne, which was decked with banners to protest against the dumping of fish.

Eventually, with his promotional banners and handouts ‘aboard’ his scooter, Grimmy toured his potential constituency as a UKIP parliamentary candidate in the 2005 general election. He didn’t succeed, but only just lost his deposit.

It may sound impossible, but the prospect of a Newlyn fisherman becoming an MP was of serious concern to his opponents. A growing percentage of the public thought Grimmy was the sort of person they wanted to see attack the pro-EU sector of the Tory, Labour and Liberal Democrat parties.

Grimmy said: “Quite a while before I joined UKIP, both Mick Faulkner and I supported the Referendum Party. That was the first party I ever officially joined. Mick stood as its parliamentary candidate in the 1997 general election. I decided to work as his press agent.

“Quite a while before I joined UKIP, both Mick Faulkner and I supported the Referendum Party”

“Even before the Referendum Party was formed, Mick Faulkner, myself, and many more people in Cornwall wanted some way to help get the UK out of the EU.

“One night, I watched the entrepreneur James ‘Jimmy’ Goldsmith being interviewed on David Frost’s programme on ITV, saying that he would put up £20m to set up a party to fight for a referendum. I listened to him, and I got converted.

One of several visits to Newlyn by Nigel Farage, then leader of UKIP. Grimmy and Mick Faulkner at first thought that Nigel Farage had little chance of getting a referendum, but fought with all their political strength to help UKIP.

“At one of the party conferences, I spoke to Jimmy Goldsmith and suggested that the party should do a flag campaign: get around 600 Referendum Party flags made, supply each boat in a couple of big ports with a flag, arrange the day, get each boat to fly the flag, and make sure the press was there.

“I thought that many thousands of flags might eventually be needed, because people would love the idea. Jimmy Goldsmith liked the idea, but his underlings didn’t think it had enough power, so it never went ahead.

“I couldn’t convince them, but I did convince Jimmy Goldsmith to start his election campaign in Newlyn. It was low water, and he stood on the quay doing his speech; all the press was around, with the J-Anne below, with a big Referendum Party flag attached to its landing derrick. We went to the Mission for a cup of tea, and he just wrote a cheque for £2,000 and passed it to the then Mission superintendent, Len Scott. Sadly, Jimmy Goldsmith died not long afterwards, and the Referendum Party disbanded.

“Jimmy Goldsmith was a politically powerful weapon to get a referendum on the cards, and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said of him, ‘Jimmy Goldsmith was one of the most powerful and dynamic personalities that this generation has seen. He was enormously generous, and fiercely loyal to the causes he espoused.’

“And with the collapse of the Referendum Party, UKIP – established in London by the historian Alan Sked in 1991 – gained in strength. I was useful to them for talking to the press; I was a rufty-tufty fisherman who wasn’t scared of a microphone, and I wanted to be part of UKIP.

Landing the day's catch.

“Yes, over the years, by not dumping fish, but bringing it back to port and giving it away, to pensioners and/or the Mission, I did wind up MAFF (now MMO). Generally, I would toe the line and dump fish. But it didn’t take long for me to again stop dumping fish and face up to MAFF, and this went on and on, until I finally decided to never again dump any more fish – haddock, cod, anything. Dumping fish was, and remains, an evil act – and so I sold the J-Anne and retired.

Dumping cod for the press. One of skipper Mick Faulkner’s boats, the Sally Pamela, became a stage for publicising the senseless dumping of fish.

“Over all those years of making my protests, I often felt sorry for the fishery officers, because I used to get up to all sorts of pranks, and they knew what I was doing – well, they did in the end!

“I always made sure I left Newlyn while it was still dark, but in my logbook I wrote that I had left 24 hours before. If someone from MAFF claimed I had left at 4am on a particular day, it was dark, and if it ever got to court, that was poor evidence – and they knew that, so they were on rocky ground to start with.

“I always had a chart of South Wales in the wheelhouse, with tows nicely drawn out, and I steamed to South Wales every trip, didn’t I?

“I might have done, but the fishery boats couldn’t prove whether I had or had not been fishing off South Wales. It became a joke, and when I was boarded, they often asked if I had again been on my holidays to Wales! They never once had sufficient evidence.

“While the older fishery officers back at the MAFF offices, and the older officers on the patrol boats, had sympathy with my protests, few of the young ones did. They would be on their first job after university, and always said that if British fishermen didn’t break the rules, they wouldn’t be in the trouble that they were in. I wonder if any of those kids ever grew up?

“As far as protesting in the fishing industry is concerned, it has to be done at the right time and in the right place”

Skipper Mick Faulkner (right) stood as a candidate for the Referendum Party, with Grimmy acting as his press secretary.

“To my mind, anyone who lands fish instead of throwing it back dead is not a criminal but a hero. While so many people in the world are starving, the people who should be taken to court and locked up are the ministers who watched all of this happening – fish being dumped while children in the Third World die of starvation.

“I have watched parliamentary debates by fisheries committees, and listened to the MPs’ opinions, and with idiots like many of the MPs we have, I wonder how Britain still has a fishing industry left at all. And when one of those MPs becomes a minister and comes to Newlyn, any time a fisherman asks them a straightforward question, they never get a straightforward answer.

“First an MP, then a minister, and then they become the puppets of DEFRA – and then they do anything that DEFRA instructs them to do.

“Every day that goes by, just to see that the UK is sticking to the Commission’s rules, DEFRA civil servants push paper fish around their desks. Those paper fish then go backwards and forwards to Brussels. Then, at the end of the year, DEFRA gets back to the British government, patting itself on the back, saying, ‘Haven’t we done well?’ They are idiots.

Landing his day's work.

“Look at nine years ago, just before I stopped fishing. We were given a 500kg quota on haddock – no problem, because we normally never saw haddock at that time of year – but my first haul was 800kg of haddock. I thought to myself, ‘I’m not dumping another fish. I’m going to give it away, and I will do that, day after day, until the MMO arrests me.’

“All the way back to port, I would spend the time filleting fish that should have been dumped. One chap became a regular at collecting the free fish fillets – though they weren’t free to him, because he spent a lot of time and expenses travelling around giving that fish away, but collecting donations for the lifeboat. In the end, he had so much success at raising money that he kept a stock of fillets, and was effectively topping up three freezers of black fish!

“I never took one penny for any of that fish, but whatever charity gave me a collection box, I would wave it. One week it was the RNLI, the next it was the Mission, and so on.

Grimmy with a box of haddock destined for the Mission.

“Without knowing it was wrong, the Mission began to accept my free fish. Nor did I know it was wrong to give free fish to the Mission. At that time, each Friday, the Newlyn Mission served fish and chips to fishermen and pensioners, so anybody who went to the Mission café on a Friday could buy fish and chips at a reasonable price. My fresher fish gave a better taste, and in the end, half of Newlyn was going to the Mission on Friday lunchtime.

“It came to the notice of the MMO where that fish was coming from. The MMO had already given me a warning, and to press it home, it decided to prosecute the Mission.

The first call on Grimmy’s protest voyage to London was Falmouth, where a considerable number of UKIP supporters gathered.

“The MMO went with its papers to warn the superintendent, but stupidly, it decided to do so on a Friday, the popular fish and chips day! The Mission superintendent was frightened about the consequences, and later that day told me he could no longer take free fish. So the MMO went back to the office to prepare to do battle with the Mission.

“By the Monday, the MMO had realised its stupidity and backed off – but I already had the press gunning for the MMO. Television reporters and newspapers were waiting outside the MMO office to find a fishery officer to interview. All of that day, there wasn’t a fishery officer in sight.

“To this day, I still wish the MMO had pounced – can you imagine the television news that night, and the newspaper front pages the next day? But the MMO never did anything. I continued to give free fish to the public, and when I stopped, other skippers did the same – but the MMO kept its distance.

“As far as protesting in the fishing industry is concerned, it has to be done at the right time and in the right place.

The end of another day for Grimmy.

“At Newlyn, one day in 1988, we decided to protest against a cod ban. Ready for the following day’s market, each skipper landed just one cod in a box. It was good to watch the MMO men shake their heads, wondering what to do. I had the press standing by, and the MMO knew that.

“The MMO district inspector was furious, and for hours was being chased by reporters and photographers. It was great. We were never officially cautioned by the MMO.

“Although that protest was successful, I would rather have got 800kg of cod, taken the fish to London, and dumped it in front of Whitehall. Imagine the impact that would have had. It would have been a great way of doing what we are still forced to do, dump dead fish – but instead of dumping it on our doorsteps out at sea, dump it on their doorstep in London. It could still be done, and you might have plenty of chances to practise, because the government will waver in its talks with the EU.

“Dump a lorryload of fish in the centre of Manchester, for example, and immediately the people in Manchester will understand what the CFP means. It would be all over local and countrywide media. And when they stop you dumping the fish, still take the fish to such towns, but instead, give it away to pensioners or people on benefits.

“What will DEFRA do then? Grab those plastic bags from the pensioners? Even the police would not be minded to get involved with anything like that – most of them would, in truth, like to take part.

For a trawlerman work doesn't stop when you get back from sea - there's always mending to be done!

“As far as past protests in Cornwall go, perhaps we could have done a lot more – but I truly hope that there are still fishermen out there who would fight, and fight hard, were we not to get our waters back.

“The Hastings fishermen have been brilliant at fighting the CFP, but it has cost them. The MMO failed to see their humour. The Plymouth men, too, were fantastic – Dave Pessell and all the others who blockaded the port, dumped fish in Plymouth, all sorts of things – those actions by Plymouth fishermen were superb. But those actions cost them too. Many Plymouth skippers – and others who also took part – were almost dragged through a crown court. It took a lot of courage to risk their livelihood.”

The end of an era - with his boat scrapped, Grimmy retires.

This and all the other leading stories from the industry are available from Fishing News publications either online or in print via subscription.

Monday morning's fish auction in Newlyn.

Early evening on Saturday over the weekend and the Sapphire III makes her way back to the quay after landing for Monday's market...

where she landed a full trip of fish along with all the inshore trawlers like the Ocean Harvest...

including a good run of brill...

and sand soles...

not so thick on the grounds further off are members of the cephalopod family like squid, cuttles and octopi...

while flats like these megrim soles...

along with mink tails...

haddock...

turbot...

and lemons are much more prevalent...

the monk tails are graded according to size, each with their own niche market when it comes to chefs' preferences...

inshore boats using age-old lines targeted big white fish like saithe and pollack...

or as in the case of the Butts, jigged for squid...

or handlined for mackerel...

of which there were plenty...

some getting better results on the squid...

while a few kept the faith with bass...

it was mackerel that by species probably made up the greatest number of boxes on the market this morning...

and a sign that summer is still not yet a thing of time past...

there are still shots of John Dory to be had...

all of which kept the buyers busy...

especially with delicacies like these ray wings...

the dawning light would suggest another fine day in the offing...

and hopefully see the Ivan Ellen stay in her berth...

though for some crabbing crews there is a mountain of new gear to make up...

over in Porthleven the story is much the same.

The life of Newlyn trawlerman Mike Mahon - part II.

Veteran Fishing News reporter Phil Lockley continues Grimmy’s story as the political fight begins.

Grimmy: Tell it as it is.

At the conclusion of Part I, skipper Mike ‘Grimmy’ Mahon revealed how his political activities started, leading to his ceaseless fight with British governments and authorities, reports Phil Lockley

When the senseless dumping of fish gained media attention, waiting in the wings was Grimmy, and the intensity of his activities increased.

To us in the media, Grimmy was so easy to get a quote from. He still gravitates toward radio, television, or anyone with a notebook in their hand. He has no fear of being quoted, and even if we blew the tale out of all proportion, Grimmy would shrug his shoulders and say, ‘no news is the only bad news’. In the referendum, Cornwall scored a Brexit majority, and perhaps Grimmy’s many years of battering the EU by taunting the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) helped to achieve that.

After selling his boat and licence to a flagship company, Grimmy stayed in fishing, shortly afterwards purchasing the 41ft steel trawler Betty G. Meanwhile, his political fight intensified.

I talked to Grimmy about his views on the future of the UK fishing industry, and how even after Brexit, the fight of British fishermen to rid themselves of EU rule may fail.

Grimmy and Brian Tobin were united in promoting the fishing industries in Canada and its mother country, the UK.

If you are a Brexiteer, read on; it will raise your hopes – and if you are a Remainer, please read on to understand why a huge percentage of British fishermen voted for Brexit, and how Brexit warriors like ex-skipper Mike Mahon will fight on until Britain truly becomes an independent coastal state.

Grimmy said: “I never did agree with licences or quotas. In Canada, they have a system where, each year, you pay for your licences; you might do several types of fishing, so you have to buy the appropriate licences. One licence might cost you $10 and another might cost you thousands of dollars; it depends on the profitability of the fishery – and when you leave that type of fishing, those licences cannot be traded, but are returned to the Canadian government.

“That sounds a bad deal for Canadian fishermen, but I believe that part of the licence fee is kept back until you retire, and then that money is returned to you, like a pension.

“If there is too much fishing, the Canadian government keeps back the relevant licences, and when the stocks are looking better, those licences go back into circulation. That system works, and works very well. But from day one, the system over here has been an absolute disaster.

“Looking back to when I transferred the licence from Joal to a flagship company – and when the MAFF (now MMO) district inspector at Plymouth, Colin George, said I shouldn’t – I can remember the front page of Fishing News reporting on how John Gummer, fisheries minister at that time, had banned the transfer of licences from boats under 80ft in length to boats over 80ft.

“I was OK – the transfer of Joal to Joe O’Connor had taken place, and he had paid me in full – but there were others who were hit by that new rule, and couldn’t go ahead. Some had already received their 10% deposit, and I believe that they were allowed to keep it, but they were given their boats back.

“Betty G was a good little boat, and I worked her single-handed quite easily, but as for other fishermen, with quotas and restrictions and the way things were going, it was depressing – it took the fun out of fishing. I was dumping cod day after day. And of all the cod fishing that I have done – in Iceland, Greenland, the White Sea, the North Sea – the best cod fishing I ever saw was in 1988, fishing off Newlyn. Truly, the ground was knee-deep with cod.

“But we caught most of the year’s quota in three days, and together, the Newlyn boats alone were dumping thousands and thousands of tonnes of cod.

“Eventually, we had a ban for three months to prevent dumping, but then a small quota was given, dumping continued, and the ban came back. It was a nightmare. On one day, I was dumping two to three tonnes of cod per tow. When you take into account the size and horsepower of Betty G – just 127hp from a Gardner 6LXB, and it was a bus engine, not a proper marine engine – now, compare that to a big sidewinder. And I used no fancy style of trawl, either, just an 8.5 fathom net from the old Concord pattern, the same pattern as we used on the Grimsby boats.

“Comparing those catches off Cornish boats to the catches of cod we had on the Grimsby sidewinders, the catches of Cornwall were massive. We all suffered the consequences of EU quotas, and we were forced to throw back a huge tonnage of dead fish.

“I remember Fishing News covering the story one week, when I made £5,000 but had to dump over £6,000-worth of cod to do that. Had the Newlyn fleet – for example – been allowed to keep those fish, there wouldn’t have been so much fish caught. Fishing was so heavy that I, and other skippers like me, would have gone back to port more often – very often, in fact – so overall, there would have been a lot less fishing. It meant we were hammering more fish to make a standard wage.

Brian Tobin, then Canadian minister of fisheries and oceans, and later premier of Newfoundland, was the guest of honour at the Newlyn Fish Festival.

Jo-al  against the pier.

Jo-al heading for the gaps and another day at sea.

“I couldn’t stand it any more, so to get away from the rules and regulations, I decommissioned Betty G and bought the under-10m trawler J-Anne BRD 92. But, as time went on, those regulations began to creep down to the smaller boats. The CFP is the biggest environmental disaster on record. I can remember the news reports of an Eyemouth skipper hauling up 2,000 boxes of coley. Fishing News said his net was bulging with fish right up to the mouth, but he had to dump the lot: £40,000-worth of fish were thrown away dead. That week he made £40,000, but he dumped £400,000-worth of coley to get it. And it wasn’t just him; every other boat was forced to do the same. You couldn’t move in the North Sea without catching coley, but those men had hardly any quota for coley. There’s only one word for dumping fish: criminal.

“I had a television set on the Betty G. I never used to listen to the shipping forecast on Radio 4, but watched the lunchtime news; that was always a good forecast. I remember one day dumping several tonnes of cod, then looking at the BBC and seeing all those kids in Somalia starving to death. There is something wrong on this planet when you see people starving, with people just five hours’ flight-time away dumping astronomical amounts of fish.

“By the time I had the J-Anne, the POs were getting stronger. I never liked the POs, and at that time, they were siding with the EU commission. Without the CFP, the POs were not necessary. I have never supported the POs; and in speaking on behalf of many fishermen south of Scotland, neither did I support the NFFO.

“About 1995, while I was decommissioning the Betty G, I was at home watching a repeat of The World at War series, with the Canadian soldiers fighting alongside British troops, both streaming onto the Normandy beaches on D-Day.

“After that programme, I watched the news, and there was a piece about how Spanish fishermen had plundered Canadian waters to take Greenland halibut, and how, one day, the Canadian government had had enough and arrested a Spanish boat, Estai. In the days after that conflict, it became known as the ‘Turbot War’.

“However, our government clearly had a short memory, and backed Spain. That was enough for me. Through two world wars, Canadian soldiers fought alongside our soldiers, and in the Turbot War, our government backed Spain – a ridiculous and cowardly act. I was ashamed of our government.

“My stepdaughter lived in Canada, and when we received presents, they were always wrapped in old Canadian newspapers, and as soon as I realised the severity of the Turbot War, I asked her if I could have some complete copies of the relevant newspapers. It was only then that I read the true reports about the Turbot War. So I asked for a Canadian flag to be sent over, so I could fly it from the J-Anne. She also sent a T-shirt with the Canadian flag on it, and I wore that with pride for a very long time. Almost right away, many others wanted a Canadian flag, so I phoned the Canadian High Commission in London to get some.

“That weekend I was going to Yeovil to speak, as nothing but an angry ‘Joe Bloggs’ fisherman at a Tory rally. On the same platform were Bill Cash MP, Norman Tebbit MP, Christopher Booker, a writer for The Sunday Telegraph, and Ian Lentern, another Tory supporter. In my speech, I talked about our views on the Turbot War, and about my call to the Canadian High Commission to get more flags for our fishing boats to fly.

“The audience was in uproar; they were cheering, and people were standing and yelling their Canadian support – there were over 1,200 people at the speech.

“On BBC Newsnight that night, they showed Norman Tebbit speaking, but they had dubbed onto his speech the cheering and yelling that they recorded when I had spoken of Canada. Norman Tebbit’s speech had nothing to do with fishing.

Conservative MP David Harris was a strong supporter of Mike Mahon’s Canadian flag protest.

“So I couldn’t get the media to show interest in the fight between Canada and Spain. I came back home and phoned the Canadian High Commission; they hadn’t been told of my previous request for flags, and I had 1,200 people wanting to back our support, and they were delighted to hear of the support. So I grabbed several of the different Canadian newspapers that my stepdaughter had sent, and phoned the editors of two; they weren’t interested.

“However, as a last shot, I phoned the Toronto Sun to ask a reporter, Robert Benzie, to put an appeal in his paper to obtain Canadian flags for us. Ten minutes later, the editor phoned back, asking if Robert Benzie and a Toronto Sun photographer could bring the flags over, and I immediately said yes. Until their scoop was on the front page of the Toronto Sun, they didn’t want any media coverage in the UK or in Canada.

“Thirty-six hours later, Robert Benzie and his photographer were standing on Newlyn quay, holding seven Canadian flags. Before his flight, Robert Benzie had been into the nearest suitable shop and had bought its stock of flags. He was in such a rush to get the scoop that we only had seven flags; we still needed a lot more, but that seven was enough for the whole idea to rush ahead. The lads returned to Canada, and an eight-page exclusive in the Toronto Sun was published the day after; a further eight pages were printed the next day, and so on. But the national media here in the UK was still not interested.

“So all we had were seven Canadian flags, flying on different boats in Newlyn. Local press photographer Phil Monkton took loads of pictures and the local papers covered it, but the British daily newspapers were still not interested.

“However, four days later, what they call a ‘stringer’ in the press trade discovered the potential of the story, and the British daily newspapers went mad. Phil Monkton must have had the biggest payday ever. And every UK paper wanted its own scoop; my phone was ringing all day, every day; there were reporters and cameras everywhere.

“Canadian fisheries were at war with the Spanish government – and we were at war with Brussels; what could have been better ammunition than that?

“So in the end, most Cornish fishermen flew the Canadian flag, and that spread fast. Others around the UK were buying Canadian flags, and Brian Tobin, Canadian minister of fisheries and oceans, and later the premier of Newfoundland, came to Newlyn to join us as our guest of honour at the Newlyn Fish Festival.

“His support was massive, and I asked him, if he ever became prime minister of Canada, would he come back to Newlyn, and he said, ‘You bet I will, Mike; you lads at Newlyn ask me, and I will be on the next plane.’ By then, being 100% behind the Canadian flag protest, fishermen in Cornwall had the full power of the press behind us, and we used it.

“Contrary to what the UK government and the NFFO had thought, hardly any British people supported Spain’s fight to keep catching Greenland halibut.

“Even though the Canadian fishery officers had arrested that Spanish boat just outside Canadian waters, in the minds of so many people, the Canadian government was acting legally and had won the hearts of millions – and we had also won the hearts of so many people in the British fishing industry.

“Feelings toward the CFP were souring; British people could see that our fishermen were being forced by Brussels to throw back dead fish. Local MPs, like David Harris (Tory), were great supporters, and not only Tories were our supporters – so many other MPs were behind us.

“The action of our government in encouraging our people to support Spain had failed; whatever ashes there were had blown back in their face.

“British boats flying the Canadian flag kept flying those flags for a very long time. The link between UK fishermen and Canadian fishermen grew stronger and stronger – and is still strong. Adding it all up, it cost me around £15,000 to carry out that protest – but it was money well spent.”

This and all the other leading stories from the industry are available from Fishing News publications either online or in print via subscription.

Brexit update: Fisheries Negotiations

Following Brexit, the UK will no longer be part of the EU Common Fisheries Policy. It will become an independent coastal state and be fully responsible for managing fisheries in the UK’s Exclusive Economic Zone of 200 miles.

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This will include setting total allowable catches (TACs), distributing quotas and determining who has access to fisheries.[1] However, access for EU vessels to UK waters and vice versa is likely to be part of any agreement reached with the EU, as part of a future relationship.The Fisheries White Paper Sustainable fisheries for future generations, published in July 2018, set out the Government’s intention to continue to co-operate closely with the EU and other coastal states on the sustainable management of fish stocks that cross borders, and states that “any decisions about giving access to our waters for vessels from the EU, or any other coastal states including Norway, will then be a matter for negotiation”.[2]

Brexit negotiations

As part of the Draft Withdrawal Agreement UK and EU have agreed there will be a transition or implementation period which will last from 30 March 2019 to 31 December 2020, during which the UK and EU have agreed that the UK will continue comply with the Common Fisheries Policy.

Beyond the transition period, the maintenance of current arrangements for sharing fisheries resources after Brexit was referred to in the European Council’s draft negotiating guidelines for a future trade deal. This linked continued existing reciprocal access to fisheries to the proposal for a zero-tariff trade agreement. However, the UK Government’s Fisheries White Paper rejected the EU’s position that access to fisheries should be linked to any trade agreement, referring to the latter as “a separate question”. There have been no detailed discussions to date between the UK and the EU on fisheries.[3]

No deal and fisheries

A no deal Brexit, in which there was no transitional agreement on fisheries until the end of 2020, would mean that the UK would become an independent coastal state from March 2019 taking over responsibility for its Exclusive Economic Zone. The UK would no longer be bound by the Common Fisheries Policy and could deny access to EU Member States’ fishing vessels.

UK exports in fish and related products to the EU were worth £1.3 billion and comprised 70% of all UK fish exports from the UK by value. Fish imports from the EU were worth £1.1 billion (34% of all fish imports to the UK by value).[4] The impact of a no deal Brexit on the fisheries industry’s ability to export and trade are likely to be felt across the sector. In addition to the impacts of any tariffs, fisheries products, as all perishable products, could be impacted by any increased delays at borders resulting from greater custom controls.

The EU Commission published a preparedness notice to stakeholders on Fisheries and Aquaculture in April 2018, setting out how UK withdrawal would impact both the UK and EU sectors in the absence of any kind of withdrawal agreement. The UK Government is also expected to publish a Technical Notice on fisheries in September.

[1]     Article 61(1) of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) states that: “The coastal State shall determine the allowable catch of the living resources in its exclusive economic zone.”

[2]     Defra, Fisheries White Paper Sustainable fisheries for future generations, published July 2018

[3]     EFRA Select Committee Evidence Session, 17 July 2018, Fisheries, Q403

[4]     UK Trade Info database, downloaded in April 2018, using product code SITC 03 – ‘Fish, crustaceans, molluscs & aq. inverts & preps thereof’

Commons Briefing papers CBP-8396

Author: Elena Ares

Topics: EU external relations, EU institutions, EU law and treaties, Fisheries, Food, Marine environment

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Fisheries: Brexit Negotiations (  PDF, 193.16 KB)