Ben Tunnicliffe - the first of CFPO's videos on fish, fishermen and chefs from around Cornwall.

Looking out of the window while dining at the Tolcarne Inn there's every chance that you will catch sight of the boat that caught the fish on your plate or even standing at the bar with one of the crew enjoying a quiet pint in his down time! 

Not more than a few hundred feet from the fish market, chef Ben Tunnicliffe cites the quality of produce first and foremost when it comes to creating the range of fine fish dishes that changes daily. With well over 50 species landed on Newlyn's market in any given week he's spoilt for choice - and so are his customers.

A little on the chilly side on Monday morning's market in Newlyn

Now that the clocks went back, light creeps across the bay as the fish auction gets underway at 6am...

new owner, new boxes for the netter Charisma...

a blue with the blues...

plenty of megrim soles with the Twilight III this morning...

and plenty of hake for the netters Karen of Ladram...

and Ajax...

Newlyn Fish, always on the look out for something a little special landed...

or these beautiful brill...

with so many boats landing the buyers were up to their chests in fish this morning...

cracking haul of bass from the man himself, despite the freezing cold yesterday chances are Cod was the only handliner out there not complaining of cold feet...

winding this much mackerel aboard would have kept the cold at bay on the Sea Spray too...

wonder if big Don gave young Mr Nowell a shout on the VHF to tell him how many JDs he was catching?..

spot the turbot...

lovely looking lemons...

busy market scene...

the netter fleet tied up over the spring tide under all kinds of blue hues this morning...

from a deep Prussion blue...

through to Cerulean...

and French Ultramarine...

for a full-size panorama...

watercolour challenge - try laying down a wash in paint from blue through to its complimentary colour orange...

looks like the solar panels are a little frosted this morning...

and the lorry park is packed with articulated lorries waiting for their fish loads...

a packed Mary Williams pier...

as the aptly named Serene Dawn lands during a serene dawn... 

Elisabeth Veronique makes for the ice works...

early morning paddleboarder enjoying a flat calm...

as are two 'Battery Rockers', those hardy (or insane) bunch of swimmers that take to the water every morning off Jubilee Pool, your'e free to join them any day you want...

and enjoy the stunning ever-changing vistas that Mount's bay has to offer.

FFL - BREXIT - BOOM OR BETRAYAL FOR THE NEXT GENERATION OF BRITISH FISHERMEN?

Fishing for Leave have just posted their response to the Fisheries Bill published last week.

The CFP of “equal access to a common resource”, and “relative stability” shares of internationally agreed Total Allowable Catch (TAC) disproportionately eschewed against the United Kingdom, has deprived British coastal communities of our nations own resources.

Worse, to compound this, ill-founded, arbitrary management was imposed by bureaucracy as misguided as remote. This has wrought environmental and economic damage on a colossal scale that need not have happened.
Often missed or maligned is the degradation, emotional heartache and trauma inflicted upon one of the unique ways of life, communities and heritage within the British Isles. It has been a sad travesty and injustice perpetrated by government of all hues.

Many have seen generations of heritage and the very existence that defines who they and their families are smashed, heartbreakingly, in many instances, probably irretrievably. Brexit provides a huge opportunity to reverse all of the above by repatriating control of our resources and implementing environmentally and economically fit for purpose policy. To that end we welcome many facets of the governments white paper. Especially welcome is acknowledgment that the United Kingdom will be an independent coastal state which presents an opportunity to “implement policy and management on the UK’s terms and for the benefit of UK fishermen”.

Redressing the current arrangements and policy acknowledged as either unsatisfactory, or in need of improvement, is an “acid test” that must be delivered upon. However, we are concerned that the Fisheries White paper is aspirational but significantly lacks detail.

Some of what is written appears to be contradictory, i.e. auctioning repatriated resources vs it being a national resource for public benefit and good.
It is a particularly unsatisfactory (and a legal and diplomatically dangerous statement) that the UK will “move towards” fairer shares away from relative stability. These are instantly our resources upon leaving.

We are also concerned by advocacy of retaining of policies that will never work. Proposals of policies such as auctioning repatriated quota, or the system of allocating resources which cannot be sold for profit to cover for species that would need to be discarded to comply with quota rules, are felt to be illfounded,
ineffectual non-starters by our members and others.

Adoption and continuation of management and policies as is, whether EU or British, will see Brexit be the industries epitaph. Brexit is one unique opportunity to break from 40 years of failure. If political convenience, vested interests or opinion derived from a lack of operational experience of fishing is heeded then fishing will be another British industry consigned to museum and memory.
The paper that follows is written after consultation with not only members of Fishing for Leave but other associations and POs of a similar mind.
The following is what we all in common feel is the detail necessary to implement new, bespoke policy to achieve the proof of the pudding that we believe industry, government, NGOs and importantly the public want to see.

Future British Fisheries policy must facilitate environmentally applicable sustainable management to allow this British industry, and its dependent coastal communities, to rejuvenate and thrive. Through deriving maximum economic benefit from a national resource through a broad range of economic diversity where all fishermen and communities around these islands can prosper for generations to come.

It is vital that government now, for the first time, listens to the practical experience of those at the coal face with unrivalled operational and biological knowledge and does not pander to convenience or virtue signalling. We have been blessed with the opportunity of freedom and independence to decide and write our own future. It cannot be squandered.

Yours sincerely,
Fishing for Leave

How Brexit will leave the fishing industry beached

An insightful and thought provoking article from Simon Watkins reporting on what the future may hold small-scale fishermen in the UK post Brexit:

Britain’s small-scale fishermen are, without doubt, among the country’s ‘left behind’. But Brexit will not improve their lot. SIMON WATKINS reports.

A grey September morning on Hastings Beach. Boats are being hauled up the steep pebble slope after their early morning fishing trips. A gentle breeze wafts in from the English Channel. The air is mildly salty, but the language among some of the fishermen is even more so.

“They’re a bunch of total f**king wankers!”

The speaker is a fisherman bemoaning the government’s perceived betrayal of fishermen in its Brexit planning. The anger is visible all around. A flag fluttering from one of the tall black wooden fishing sheds demands: ‘No Fishing Sell Out!’ Down on the beach, amid the crates and pallets, is an even more embittered sign.

Addressed directly to Theresa May, it declares: ‘Ain’t you lucky? We used to hang traitors in this country. Out Means out!’

The town of Hastings voted 54% for Leave, slightly more strongly than the UK overall. But down among the fishermen, there is not a Remainer to be found.

The recent scallop war off the coast of France has pushed fishing back up the Brexit agenda. The scenes of British fishing boats clashing with angry French rivals have stirred Brexiteer hearts. The scallop skirmish itself was unconnected to Brexit and centred on a quite specific and localised row over the scallop season, but some suspect it could be an omen of things to come.

The rules of the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy will remain in place for the UK until the end of 2020. But then we will need a new deal.

In July Michael Gove’s Department of the Environment Farming and Rural Affairs, issued a White Paper optimistically entitled ‘Sustainable Fisheries for Future Generations’, intended to outline what shape this deal could take.

Consultation on the White Paper ended this month. It was broadly welcomed by major fishing bodes including the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation and the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations (NFFO). Barrie Deas, chief executive of the NFFO said, enthusiastically: “We think the white paper has got it right on the big ticket issues.”

Critics argue it is more a wish-list than a definite plan and offers little real hope to the vast majority of Britain’s 12,000 fishermen. One problem is that these fishermen do not however represent a single economic interest.

A handful of companies and individuals operating large trawlers dominate the industry, but the vast majority of the ‘workforce’ are those who operate smaller scale boats, defined as those under 10 metres in length.

These 4,000 plus smaller boats account for almost 80% of the UK’s total fishing fleet. It was, of course, members of this community who famously sailed down the Thames with Nigel Farage during the 2016 referendum campaign to voice their fury at the EU.

The fishermen of Hastings are all small scale operators. Some of their boats may look big to a landlubber, but none are more than 10 metres in length.

That life is difficult for many of these fishermen is beyond doubt. The New Economics Foundations estimates that while profit margins among the biggest trawlers average 19%, for the under 10 metre fishing fleet it is zero.

Former Hastings fishermen Pete White is drinking tea with former fishing colleagues. He believes he was driven out of the trade by the effects of Britain’s EU membership and the Common Fisheries Policy. The mistake was made many years ago, he argues, but the attitudes continue to this day. “To the government, fishing is unimportant. They sold us out in 1973,” he declares.

The fury of the fishermen ranges over a vast array of perceived and often real injustices, but their ire is focussed on two core issues – the free access to British waters allowed to continental boats, which can fish up the six mile limit, and, of course, the quotas, which limit the quantities of fish that can be caught. For the fishermen the two are closely interlinked.

Adam Williams is in his early 20s and works on one of three boats owned by his family, who have been fishermen for several generations. “The quota is one of the main things,” he says. “We only get a tiny amount of the quota. And then we get Belgian trawlers who fish right on the six mile limit. When we come out of the EU the limits can be pushed back. Then the quotas will be shared out better.”

Along the beach, Robert Ball and crew have just returned from a fishing sortie and are sorting out their nets. “We see big powerful boats right on the six mile limit. They fish 24 hours a day, they go back Friday and then they’re back on Monday morning.

“The government has not got a clue. It’s so complicated, I do not understand it. We just want to go to sea and catch fish.”

The discontent is far from unreasonable. Britain’s small-scale fishermen are quite right that they have had a raw deal for decades. The obvious injustices and are clear in the numbers. In the Channel, French fishermen hold more than 84% of the quota for cod. English fishermen have just 9%.

As for the quota allocated to individual boats, the inequality is just as stark. The small fishing vessels (which we should recall make up 80% of the UK’s fleet) are entitled to just 4% of all the UK’s fishing quota. The vast bulk is held by larger boats. In some instances the majority of quota for one particular fish stock is held by just one vessel. So on this at least, the Brexiters are right. The small-scale fishermen have been treated appallingly. They are truly part of the ‘left behind’.

But are the Brexiteers also right that the troubles of the smaller fishermen are entirely the fault of the EU? And even more critically, is Brexit really the solution?

The tiny quota available to smaller fishing boats and the economic dominance of larger vessels is not the fault of the Common Fisheries Policy or any other EU measure. The decision over how each member state divides its national quota among its fleet is entirely a matter for national governments.

What is more, the British government’s recent fishing White Paper makes clear it has no plans for change on this front. “We do not intend to change the method for allocating existing quota,” it states.

Chris Williams, senior programme manager at the New Economic Foundation and an expert in marine socio-economics, comments: “The key promise of more quota for small boats was always within the power of the UK government, not Brussels. It still is, and yet this White Paper specifically states that the existing quota ownership will not be challenged.”

So the small-scale fishermen may have some grounds to feel betrayed. But this has nothing to do with whether or not Brexit happens or even what type of Brext deal is agreed. It is because the UK government is not changing its own rules for allocating fishing quota to individual vessels.

So if the EU has nothing to do with the quota for each vessel, is it to blame because of the low national quota? Would Brexit and escaping the EU’s notorious Common Fisheries Policy allow a significantly bigger total catch for British fishermen, and so lift all boats?

In theory, yes.

It is almost impossible to find anyone who believes the Common Fisheries Policy is a success. Deas, at the NFFO, describes it as “cumbersome”. Jeremy Percy, chairman of the Coastal Producers Organisation – which represents small scale operators – calls it “a disaster”.

A key failing of the policy, as its stands, is how national quotas are allocated. These are based on historical catches from the 1970s, a system called ‘relative stability’. Britain’s low quotas in some fish stocks have been blamed on poor record-keeping for British catches in this period, which underestimated how much British fishermen were catching, and on poor negotiating by the then UK government. This is what led to the manifest nonsense of British fishermen getting just 9% of the cod in the Channel.

The government’s fisheries White Paper proposes that Britain will take control of its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). This is the water extending to 200 nautical miles beyond our coast. It will control the amount of fish caught in those waters and who is allowed to fish there.

So, in theory, this could increases the fish available for British fishermen. Percy says: “If Brexit means Brexit, and you take the narrow view, then yes there could be more fish for small scale fishermen to catch.” But, as Percy himself explains, this theoretical view also needs to take account of the realities of the exit negotiation and the wider trade picture.

In total, British fishermen catch about 700,000 tonnes of fish each year. Some is landed and sold in EU ports. Of the fish landed in the UK, most is also then exported, again mostly to the EU.

The net result is that very roughly half of all fish caught by British fishermen is ultimately sold in the EU. Percy points out that exports are particularly important to the small-scale fishermen. So even if British fishermen are able to catch far more fish, where will they sell them?

The second hard reality, recognised in the White Paper, is that once the UK leaves the EU it will still be bound by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. This requires maritime nations to co-ordinate with neighbours over ‘shared fish stocks’. This would apply to the many fish that flagrantly ignore international maritime borders and swim back and forth in the North Sea, Irish Sea and English Channel.

Recognising this reality in its White Paper, the UK government proposes annual negotiations between Britain and the EU, in which national fishing quotas and access to each other’s waters would have to be agreed.

The White Paper insists the UK government will keep these negotiations over fishing entirely separate from the rest of the trade negotiations with the EU. Experts point out that this is pure wishful thinking.

“There is no way that is going to happen,” says Chris Williams at the NEF. Indeed the EU has already indicated that the rights for its member states’ boats to fish in UK waters will be linked to negotiations over Britain’s ability to export fish to the EU.

Williams argues that we would have been far better off renegotiating fishing rights while still inside the EU, rather than from the outside, and at the same time as we negotiate everything else.

As it is, neither the EU nor the UK holds all the cards when it comes to fishing. EU fishermen are heavily dependent on their access to the waters around Britain. But British fishermen are also dependent on access to EU waters and, even more so, to the EU export market.

So, as ever, it all comes back to trade negotiations. The outcome is uncertain and, if there is no-deal, unthinkable. But the idea that Britain has the upper hand in fishing, or that British fishermen will emerge clear winners is, at best, highly dubious.

The only obvious potential winners might be the large industrial scale trawlers for whom Brexit could bring bigger catches in those waters out to the 200 mile limit. But these are not the British fishermen wheeled out by Nigel Farage, and they are not the ones who need help.

For the struggling small-scale fishermen, more dependent on exports and already operating on narrow or non-existent profits margins, Brexit offers at least as many risks as it does rewards.

The NEF’s Chris Williams is clear. “[Small fishermen] are grossly mistaken if they think Brexit will make things better for them.”

Jeremy Percy is even more blunt: “More fish for British fishermen! That was what was offered, along with £350 million a week for the NHS… and all the other lies.”

Down on Hastings beach, the fishermen are likely to be angry for some time to come.

Full story by Simon Watkins published 08:00 27 October 2018 in the New European.

French fishing report - which is their bluest fishery?

It is at times like this, when the UK finds itself with a new Fisheries Bill setting out the terms for the future of the industry in a post-Brexit world that many UK fishermen would dearly love to have an organisation representing them with the depth and scale of the French CNPMEM - their National Committee for Marine Fisheries and Marine Livestock. Membership is compulsory for every organisation and operator in the French industry,

The National Committee for Marine Fisheries and Marine Livestock (CNPMEM) is a professional body governed by private law with public service missions. 

Bringing together all the professions of the fishing and marine farming sector, it represents and ensures the defense of the general interests of the fishermen with the national and Community public authorities. It participates in the management of fisheries resources in the framework of responsible fishing and sustainable development. 

Thus, the CNPMEM is consulted on regulatory measures for the management of fish resources (fish, shellfish, marine plants) or adopts its own regulations to regulate certain fisheries. These decisions are then binding on all the professionals concerned.
It also participates in the implementation of public policies for the protection and enhancement of the environment and the implementation of economic and social actions for the benefit of its members. 

It collaborates with studies and programs aimed at improving maritime safety and scientific programs that provide better knowledge of marine environments and species or improve fishing techniques (increase the selectivity of gear by, for example, changing mesh size on the nets or by providing "exit doors" for non-target species ...).
The CNPMEM is the national level of the professional organization of fisheries and marine farms which also includes regional (12) and departmental or interdepartmental (13) committees located along the metropolitan coast and domains. The committees are all autonomous and independent.

They have just helped fund a report into the environmental impact (within the Blue Economy) that the fishing industry has across a wide range of fisheries.

After two and a half years of work, the ICV Pêche project coordinated by the CNPMEM has just delivered its first results: the environmental performance of French fisheries is variable but, overall, very satisfactory compared to other terrestrial animal productions.

The study of the environmental impacts of French fishing does not stop there and continues with the project IMPECH,  launched in early October 2018. Still coordinated by the CNPMEM and funded by FFP, it brings together professionals and scientists and aims to continue and refine the an initiative initiated by ICV Pêche, focusing in particular on explaining the variability observed for certain fisheries.

The French fishery has made its ecological assessment, screening 15 fisheries. The most virtuous targets included sardine, mackerel and herring.

The ICV fishing survey (life cycle inventory) integrates all consumptions and emissions to produce one ton of fish or shellfish, reduced to its protein portion for comparisons. The materials - ship, gear, equipment - weigh little against the fuel consumption, determining. "The environmental impact is mainly related to fuel efficiency , " says Thomas Cloâtre, who led the project to the National Fisheries Committee (CNPMEM).

Thanks to good yields, the weakest impact can be seen in pelagic trawl, purse seine and ring-net: sardines, herring, mackerel, bluefin tuna, anchovies and tropical tuna. On the other hand, fisheries are penalized by the travel time to fishing areas or low tonnages: albacore tuna, Celtic sea gadids, sole. Behind the pan, champion all categories, the fishing is doing well against meat and aquaculture. The worst positioned: beef and gadidae.

The study incorporated pressure on stocks, targeted or caught accidentally. It is the lowest for single-species fisheries because the measures or quotas are then adapted to the state of the target stock. In contrast, multi-species fisheries increase the risk of threatened species. The impact on the ecosystem is not yet taken into account: it is a perspective, with the integration of other important species and downstream of the sector.

ICV Pêche was funded by Ademe and France fishing industry, and coordinated by the CNPMEM with other professional structures (UAPF, Anop, Fedopa, Sathoan, CITTPM and Aquimer), in connection with INRA, IRD and design offices. Its results will feed the Agribalyse base of the Ademe. They are consistent with those of a global meta-analysis of the environmental cost of various sources of animal protein.

Story courtesy of Solène LE ROUX



The actual report is titled:

ICV Fishing - Life cycle inventories for selected fishery products

Towards an assessment of the environmental performance of fishery products

For many years, the fishing sector has been mobilised to practice sustainable and responsible fishing, based on three pillars: environmental, economic and social. From this point of view, one of the major challenges is to acquire a better knowledge of the impacts of fishing activities on the environment in order to put in place the appropriate practices.

In this context, several stakeholders in the fisheries sector have wished to join the Agribalyse program (www.ademe.fr/agribalyse) proposed by ADEME. This program aims to quantify the environmental impacts of many French food products through the life cycle analysis (LCA) method.

The project "ICV Fishing" is part of this dynamic and aims to evaluate, via LCA, the environmental performance of some fishery products, in particular to show how they can contribute to a sustainable food.

Objectives of the program

The ICV Fishing project has been experimental and has pursued several objectives. First, it aimed to improve knowledge and methodologies for assessing the environmental performance of fishing through LCA. Such a study had never been conducted in France before. A second objective was the production and availability of objective and robust data on the different stages of production of seafood for the evaluation of different types of fishing practices. Ultimately, this project provides a basis for the development of good practices by the fisheries studied.

Case studies

A sample of products representative of the diversity of fishing activities and environmental constraints was sought by the group of project partners. Fifteen "triplets" resulting from the species / fishing area / fishing gear combination have been identified. It is listed below:

• Anchovy - East Central Atlantic - Seine
• Scallop - Bay of St Brieuc - Dredge
• Gadidae (cod, haddock, whiting) - Celtic Sea - Bottom
• trawling Herring - North East Atlantic - Pelagic
• trawl Black Sea - North Sea - Bottom trawling
• Mackerel - North East Atlantic - Pelagic trawl
• Sardine - Eastern Central Atlantic -
• Sardine Sennie - Bay of Biscay - Ring-net
• Sole - Bay of Biscay - Net
• albacore - North East Atlantic - Pelagic trawl
• Bluefin tuna - Mediterranean - Longline
• Bluefin tuna - Mediterranean - Seine
• Tropical tuna (yellowfin and Skipjack tuna) - Eastern Central Atlantic - Seine

The study area covers all fishing activities until the landing of the fish, including any on-board processing activities.

1. Surveys were conducted among the various professionals concerned.
2. An innovative project in contact with professionals
3. This project has been an innovative initiative in several aspects:

The field of study was an originality in itself, since the environmental assessment of French fishery products through the life cycle analysis method was never carried out;

• It involved actors in the sector: professionals and their representatives (UAPF, ANOP, FEDOPA, Sathoan, CITPPM) will ensure the collection of data - essential phase to carry out the analyzes;
• It has brought together scientific experts from several research institutes (INRA, IRD) and specialists in LCA (Cycleco). Providers have also been engaged on certain actions (Mauric, New Wave Innovation Platform, Xavier Joly Conseil).
• The project was coordinated by the CNPMEM over a period of 2 years (2016-2018).

It has been co-financed by the French Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME) and France Filière Pêche (FFP), in addition to the self-financing component of the partners. It is followed by the CGDD (General Commissariat for Sustainable Development) of the Ministry in charge of Ecology of MEEM (Ministry of Environment, Energy and the Sea).

First results that jostle the received ideas:

• Unsurprisingly, the main parameter influencing the impact on the environment is the fuel efficiency of the fishery (ie: consumption of diesel per quantity of product landed).
• Initial results suggest that fisheries targeting blue fish (sardines, anchovies, herring, mackerel, tuna, etc.) have the lowest overall environmental impact. This is explained by a lower fuel consumption compared to other trades (benthic trades in particular) and / or large quantities landed.
• Some fisheries could also be penalized because of long travel time and / or fluctuating yields (eg the case of the albacore tuna fishery). Others suffer from a rapid wear of their gear (example of sole fishery net).
• In general, these first results suggest that the environmental performance of fishery products is as good or better than that of meat products derived from terrestrial animal production.
• These results are consistent with other similar international studies (ex: Hilborn et al, 2018)
• However, our study shows a significant variability of these impacts, both between the different fisheries analyzed and between the vessels of the same fishery. Given this variability, it is therefore advisable to remain cautious.

A study that deserves to be deepened and completed to lead to an environmental improvement of tools and practices:

These first results, which will be more finely exploited during the new IMPECH program conducted by the CNPMEM from October 2018 to June 2019, already propose several avenues for improvement, for example:

• As mentioned, it is necessary to analyze and explain the important variability existing between the vessels of the same fishery. This variability could be explained by more or less virtuous practices and / or the heterogeneity of the characteristics of the fishing vessels. and / or fluctuating interannual returns and / or uneven data quality.
• The analysis of the impact on habitats and ecosystems (biotic impacts) appears complex but remains an important issue.
• Taking into account the downstream sector (fish auction, fish trade, etc.), certainly more complex, would make it possible to be more exhaustive in the environmental assessment of fishery products.
• It would also be interesting to analyze, in addition to the environmental aspect, the social and economic components of the sustainability of the fisheries studied.
• Beyond this innovative French initiative, the interoperability of results between the various life cycle analysis programs must also be sought.

Full story courtesy of the Committee National de Peche:

Cefas Inshore Fishing Activity Intensity data tool. (2010-2012)

Fishing activity intensity within 12 nm of the English and Welsh coast. Derived from sightings data from Cornwall, Cumbria, Devon & Severn, Southern, Sussex, Kent & Essex, Eastern, North Eastern, North Western and Northumberland Inshore Fisheries & Conservation Authorities (IFCA), and sightings data provided by the Marine Management Organisation (MMO). 

The Cefas data page can be accessed here:

Data are presented by gear classes: mobile, static, dredging, trawling, potting, netting and lining & commercial angling. Data from 2010 and 2012 and gridded onto a 0.05 deg. in longitude and 0.025 deg. in latitude cells (approx. 5.5 by 5 km). 

For more details please see the Cefas report to Defra associated with this work: 

Which can be dowloaded here: Cefas report to Defra.

Cefas, UK, 2010-2012. ArcGIS layer showing Inshore Fishing Activity Intensity as determined from fishing vessel sightings.

Flag ships post-Brexit - a Spanish perspective.

Galician boats of British pavilion will be able to continue fishing after "Brexit"

London says it will maintain rights and license conditions to operate in its waters


They are Galicians, but they sail through the waters waving the flag of the Union Jack. They disguise their ships (80 in particular) with British veils to fish in the fishing grounds of Gran Sol and the North Atlantic, where the European Union has limited entry to the Spanish fleet, hungry for quotas. In Galicia they are known shipowners in the ports of Vigo, O Morrazo, Burela, Celeiro or A Coruña, but for their Anglo-Saxon competitors they are pirates who, instead of raiding and looting in the old way, have adopted the strange habit of paying licenses. and taxes to the authorities of the United Kingdom to be able to fish with Galician staff in their territorial waters. And the British fishermen want them out of their seas. With the Brexit they have seen a golden opportunity to expel them and put an end to quota-hopping , as they have called this supposed pillage of their fishing resources. Despite the enormous pressure they have exerted on the Government of Theresa May, the negotiating team of the prime minister is not about the task of taking up arms against the twenty-seven to satisfy historical accountability of her fleet. Not even if the United Kingdom leaves the EU on March 29, 2019 without an amicable divorce agreement.


THE AGREEMENT:

Legal security to continue working. According to the latest working documents of Downing Street, the British Government would be willing to offer legal security to the Galician ships of the British flag to continue fishing after Brexit . "There will be no changes in the rights and responsibilities of vessels registered in the United Kingdom that fish in British waters. They will continue to abide by the respective legislation and the license conditions, including the linked economic criteria ", explained in those documents, without clarifying whether they will continue to issue new permits in the future. 

FIRST QUESTIONS:

What quotas will there be? Can they disembark in Galicia? Ships will be exposed to the arbitrary decision of the British fishing authorities. "We will communicate to the interested parties what their corresponding allocation will be," the document suggests. On the disembarkation in the Galician ports, in the absence of an agreement on Brexit , the EU will close the doors: "There will be no automatic access for British flag vessels to Community or third-country waters (...) British flag will no longer have automatic right to land fish in any EU port" And it will also be vice versa. So the Galician ships that work in the Falklands will have to look for alternative fishing grounds if the EU and the United Kingdom do not extend a truce. 

MARKETING:

The same standards. The United Kingdom expects a left hand from Brussels regarding the commercialisation of fishery products and the mutual access of vessels to ports on both sides of the English Channel, upon notification. London is willing, if it were not possible to close a global agreement, to submit to the same rules of EU control and labeling: "The standards will remain the same, including those that regulate quality, size, weight, packaging, presentation, labeling and minimum sizes of commercialisation ", they assure.

THE EXPORT:

Same certificates. British and EU exporters must request a catch certificate detailing all the information required by the EU today: name of the species, date, method of capture and conservation ... The document should be sent to the competent Port Health Authority to be checked at least three days before the estimated date of arrival at port. Despite the anticipation of the change of rules, the British presage a great impact on supply chains: "Trade is vital, including for aquaculture and the processing sector, so it is important that our new fishing regime allows the industry commercial with the current and new markets". The EU has made it clear that the exit will have a cost. There will be no exchanges if mutual access to the waters is not guaranteed.

Translated by Google from LavozdeGalicia