SKIPPERS’ MESSAGE TO PM: DO NOT GAMBLE AWAY OUR FUTURES FOR EU DEAL

Skippers’ message to PM: do not gamble away our futures for EUK/EU fishing deal. The Prime Minister must avoid gambling with the future of Scottish fishing businesses by using the industry as a bargaining chip in negotiations to improve relations with the EU.

That’s the stark message delivered to Sir Keir Starmer, in a letter from the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation prior to talks on future trading arrangements between UK and European negotiators.

“The Scottish fishing industry has twice in the past been regarded as expendable by British Prime Ministers when it comes to Europe,” warned SFF chief executive Elspeth Macdonald.

“We must not have a repeat of 1973 when the condition of entry to the EEC was that our richly endowed fishing waters be pooled with other members, or of 2020 when the Brexit agreement, while restoring the UK to the status of sovereign coastal state, granted continued access to our waters to EU vessels to catch far more fish in our waters than they catch in their own.”

Ms Macdonald urged the Prime Minister to state unambiguously that the UK giving up rights to its own waters and natural resources would represent a long-term critical loss of a national asset critical to food security and the production of climate-smart food.

“The UK’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and the fisheries it supports are the envy of many. While there are many provisions within the law about how coastal states should cooperate with their neighbours and how resources are managed, the 2020 Brexit deal left the UK in a situation that no other independent coastal state would countenance – giving unfettered access to another’s fishing fleet.

“This is why the EU catches around seven times more fish by value in UK waters than the UK catches in EU waters every year. Its fishing fleet is highly dependent on access to UK waters; in contrast, over 85% of UK catches are taken from our own waters. Reciprocal access is heavily loaded in the EU’s favour.

“Wild capture fisheries in our EEZ are naturally renewable – they don’t need chemicals and fertilisers to secure our food security – just skilled, knowledgeable and experienced fishermen who have dedicated their working lives to harvesting these resources efficiently and sustainably.

“Giving up rights to decide who fishes in our EEZ, and when and how, would be a betrayal of UK sovereignty. We don’t give the EU access to the UK EEZ to build windfarms or extract oil and gas, so why would we give away our hugely valuable fisheries resources?”

In her letter, Ms Macdonald also emphasised that the SFF preference is not for a long-term access agreement with the EU but annual negotiations as per the international norm, and indeed what the Brexit deal sets out will apply after 2026.

She urged the Prime Minister to insist on payment for any long-term access for the EU fleet to UK waters.

“That payment should be of direct benefit to the UK’s fishing industry, SFF’s clear preference being further transfers to the UK of fishing quotas of stocks that we prioritise.”

Finally, she stressed that the UK and its devolved administrations should have complete discretion over how fisheries are managed within the UK EEZ and that market access must not be a condition of a long-term fisheries access arrangements.

“It clearly infuriates the EU that the UK, an independent coastal state, can now manage its fisheries as it sees fit. There must be no concessions given to the EU on the UK’s right to make its own decisions about fisheries management. We now have a robust legal framework in place in the UK for fisheries management through the UK Fisheries Act, and Fisheries Management Plans are being developed.

“The UK now has the opportunity to do fisheries management better than the EU – more practical and appropriate to the UK situation. Any concessions on this that would suck the UK back into even the outer reaches of the CFP’s orbit would be a significantly backwards step.

“In addition, the UK must not allow itself to be threatened by the EU on market access. No other fisheries agreement in the north-east Atlantic couples access to fisheries with access to markets, and the UK Government must resist this strongly.”

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