UK Commercial Fishing - In the event of a 'no-deal Brexit'!

A scenario in which the UK leaves the EU without agreement (a ‘no deal’ scenario) remains unlikely given the mutual interests of the UK and the EU in securing a negotiated outcome.

Looking out for UK fishermen

Negotiations are progressing well and both we and the EU continue to work hard to seek a positive deal. However, it’s our duty as a responsible government to prepare for all eventualities, including ‘no deal’, until we can be certain of the outcome of those negotiations.

For two years, the government has been implementing a significant programme of work to ensure the UK will be ready from day 1 in all scenarios, including a potential ‘no deal’ outcome in March 2019.

It has always been the case that as we get nearer to March 2019, preparations for a no deal scenario would have to be accelerated. Such an acceleration does not reflect an increased likelihood of a ‘no deal’ outcome. Rather it is about ensuring our plans are in place in the unlikely scenario that they need to be relied upon.

This series of technical notices sets out information to allow businesses and citizens to understand what they would need to do in a ‘no deal’ scenario, so they can make informed plans and preparations.

This guidance is part of that series.

Also included is an overarching framing notice explaining the government’s overarching approach to preparing the UK for this outcome in order to minimise disruption and ensure a smooth and orderly exit in all scenarios.

We are working with the devolved administrations on technical notices and we will continue to do so as plans develop.

Purpose

This notice sets out how the commercial fishing industry (the commercial catching of fish, as well as the marketing of fish and seafood) would be affected if the UK leaves the EU without a deal in March 2019.

Before 29 March 2019

The commercial catching of fish and marketing of fish and seafood, including the farming of fish, crustaceans, molluscs, aquatic plants and algae (aquaculture), is regulated by the European Union’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). The European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) provides money, including industry grants, to member states for certain fisheries activities.

After March 2019 if there’s no deal

When we leave the EU, the UK will formally leave the CFP and introduce our own fisheries policies. The government’s White Paper, Sustainable Fisheries for Future Generations, published on 4 July 2018, sets out a clear direction for a sustainable and profitable fishing industry. The White Paper also states the government’s intention to move away from the “relative stability” towards a fairer and more scientific method for quota allocation, regardless of exit scenario.

The EU Withdrawal Act 2018 will ensure EU law is transferred into UK law and continues to have effect so that we have a functioning statute book from the day we leave. Defra, together with the Devolved Administrations, is currently preparing secondary legislation (under the Withdrawal Act) to ensure the law works in the UK after we leave.

The UK will assume the rights and obligations of an independent coastal state under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) relating to our territorial waters (out to 12 nautical miles) and Exclusive Economic Zone (out to 200 nautical miles or the median line with other states). We will be responsible for managing natural marine resources in these areas, and be able to control and manage access to fish in UK waters. We will meet our international obligations under UNCLOS to cooperate with other coastal states over the management of shared stocks. We will ensure that appropriate fisheries control and enforcement measures continue.

Access to waters

• Access to fish in UK waters: While non-UK-registered vessels will no longer enjoy automatic access to UK waters (subject to any existing agreements relating to territorial waters), there will be no change to the rights and responsibilities of UK-registered vessels fishing in UK waters. They must continue to abide by the relevant legislation and licence conditions, including the economic link criteria.

• Access to fish in EU and third country waters: There will be no automatic access for UK-registered vessels to fish in EU or third country waters (subject to any existing agreements relating to territorial waters).

• Fishing opportunities for UK vessels in UK waters: UK Fisheries Administrations will tell UK quota holders what their quota allocation will be. The government will also confirm arrangements for those who fish for non-quota shellfish (scallops and edible/spider crabs) and demersal species under the Western Waters effort regime. UK Fisheries Administrations inform quota holders of their allocations in March each year and will seek to do so in 2019 to minimise disruption to fishing and allow fishermen to plan for the year. There will be no automatic access to exchanging fishing opportunities with EU member states, and no automatic access for EU member states to exchange fishing opportunities with the UK.

Access to ports

UK-registered vessels landing into EU and third country ports
UK-registered vessels will no longer have an automatic right to land fish in any EU port. Access will be permitted to EU designated ports for port services, landings, transhipment and the use of market facilities where vessels meet EU requirements governing illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. UK-registered vessels will have to notify their intention to visit an EU designated port and present information relating to the vessel and catch on board. UK vessels may be subject to inspection: this could include a full document check, inspection of the catch and, where information has been provided electronically, database checks.

Access to EU and third country ports by UK-registered vessels will be permitted without prior notice in cases of distress or force majeure.

In anticipation of our joining the North-East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC), UK-registered vessels wishing to continue fishing in the NEAFC Convention Area and landing into the EU will have to complete Port State Control 1 forms, available on the NEAFC website.

EU and third country vessels landing into UK ports

Access to UK ports for non-UK vessels, including EU vessels, will be subject to equivalent requirements to those outlined above. They will be required to provide notice of the intention to land into a designated port in the UK, except in cases of distress and force majeure.

EU vessels fishing in the NEAFC Convention Area and landing into the UK would need to complete a Port State Control 1 form.

Regional fisheries management organisations (RFMOs)

The UK will no longer be a member of RFMOs through EU membership. As an independent coastal state, we will join all relevant RFMOs as quickly as possible.

The process of joining RFMOs and ratifying their conventions may take up to 6 months: there may, therefore, be a short gap in our membership. During this time, UK vessels may not be able to fish in international waters covered by RFMOs.

European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF)

The UK government has guaranteed that in a ‘no deal’ scenario all structural and investment fund projects, including EMFF projects, approved before 31 December 2020 will be fully funded.

Labelling and marketing of fishery and aquaculture products

All common marketing standards for fish sold for human consumption - whether in the UK or the EU - will remain the same, including those governing quality, size, weight, packing, presentation or labelling and minimum marketing sizes. All labelling requirements for fish and aquaculture products for onward sale in the UK or EU will also remain the same (whether they were whole, filleted, or processed). This will include the requirement to show on labels the name of the fish, the date and method of its capture (fishing gear or farming method), whether it was wild or farmed, defrosted or fresh.

The responsibilities of Producer Organisations to promote sustainable fishing activities, market members’ products, build relationships with the supply chain, and where appropriate, manage quota, will remain unchanged.

Import and export of fishery products

Trade in fishery products obtained from illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing will remain prohibited. Most fish and fish products will require a catch certificate for import or export between the UK and EU. A catch certificate is not required for trade in some aquaculture products, freshwater fish, some molluscs, fish fry or larvae. Specific additional measures relevant to the import and export of fishery products from and to the EU are listed below:

• Exports of UK-caught fish and fishery products to the EU: The EU will require exporters to issue a catch certificate with each consignment of fish or fishery products exported to the EU. It will be the responsibility of the exporter to complete a catch certificate. If the consignment were sourced from more than one UK vessel, a Multiple Vessel Schedule would need to be completed and submitted alongside the catch certificate. Vessel owners or skippers making direct landings of UK vessels into EU ports will also need to issue a catch certificate. The content of a catch certificate will need to be verified by the UK fisheries authority where the vessel is licensed before being submitted to the competent authority in the EU country of import. The UK fisheries authorities are the Marine Management Organisation in England, Marine Scotland, the Department of Agriculture, the Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland and the Welsh Government. The UK fisheries authorities are developing an IT system to facilitate the increase in export catch certificates.

• Imports of EU-caught fish and fishery products to the UK: Each consignment or direct landing of fish or fishery products imported into the UK from the EU will require a catch certificate. The exporters will have to submit the certificate to the Port Health Authorities or relevant fisheries authority to be checked at least three working days before the estimated arrival time into the UK. This deadline could be adapted to take into account the type of fishery or distance from fishing ground to port, for example.

• Eels and eel products: Trade in the European eel (Anguilla anguilla), within and outside the EU, will remain subject to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and allowed only where it is shown not to be detrimental to the wild population. As there is currently no non-detriment finding for the population, the UK will not be able to import or export European eel. Most of the eel (Anguilla japonica) consumed in the UK is imported from China and so the impact on consumers should be limited.

Anyone importing or exporting fish or fishery products should also reference the relevant technical notices relating to the import and export of animal products.

More information

The European Commission maintains a list of designated ports for third country landings on its website. Further information on access to EU ports and the laws on Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing can be found in Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008, Chapter II, Section I.

You should also refer to guidance on catch certificates and advice on food labelling. Importers and exporters of fish and fishery products should also refer to other relevant technical notices.

This notice is meant for guidance only. You should consider whether you need separate professional advice before making specific preparations.

It is part of the government’s ongoing programme of planning for all possible outcomes. We expect to negotiate a successful deal with the EU.

The UK government is clear that in this scenario we must respect our unique relationship with Ireland, with whom we share a land border and who are co-signatories of the Belfast Agreement. The UK government has consistently placed upholding the Agreement and its successors at the heart of our approach. It enshrines the consent principle on which Northern Ireland’s constitutional status rests. We recognise the basis it has provided for the deep economic and social cooperation on the island of Ireland. This includes North-South cooperation between Northern Ireland and Ireland, which we’re committed to protecting in line with the letter and spirit of Strand two of the Agreement.

The Irish government have indicated they would need to discuss arrangements in the event of no deal with the European Commission and EU member states. The UK would stand ready in this scenario to engage constructively to meet our commitments and act in the best interests of the people of Northern Ireland, recognising the very significant challenges that the lack of a UK-EU legal agreement would pose in this unique and highly sensitive context.

It remains, though, the responsibility of the UK government, as the sovereign government in Northern Ireland, to continue preparations for the full range of potential outcomes, including no deal. As we do, and as decisions are made, we’ll take full account of the unique circumstances of Northern Ireland.

Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein are party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area and participate in other EU arrangements. As such, in many areas, these countries adopt EU rules. Where this is the case, these technical notices may also apply to them, and EEA businesses and citizens should consider whether they need to take any steps to prepare for a ‘no deal’ scenario.

Facts and figures on the common fisheries policy 2018 edition.

The European Union has agreed that, by 2020 at the latest, all fish stocks should be exploited at sustainable levels. In practice this means taking the highest possible amount of catches from the sea without affecting the long-term productivity of the stocks. This is known as the maximum sustainable yield (MSY). 

In the North-East Atlantic and adjacent waters (North Sea, Baltic Sea, Skagerrak, Kattegat, West of Scotland Sea, Irish Sea and Celtic Sea), EU fisheries ministers set overall catch limits based on scientific advice. These total allowable catches (TACs) are then divided into national quotas, which set limits on the amount of fish that can be caught.

Kudos to our Search & Rescue crews who are there when we need them most.

Incredible footage captured this morning as a HM Coastguard winchman boards a heaving fishing boat in rough seas to rescue an unwell crewman.

HM Coastguard received the call for help this morning just after 7.30am reporting an unwell crewman onboard the vessel, 50nm south east of Sumburgh, who needed urgent assistance.

The HM Coastguard search and rescue helicopter based at Sumburgh flew to the vessel and on arrival it took several minutes for the winchman to land as the seas rocked the vessel from side to side.

Once onboard the winchman quickly winches the crewman into the helicopter where he was taken to Lerwick for onward transfer to hospital by the ambulance service.

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.