WHAT JUST HAPPENED?

Cllr Rob Hannaford is Chairman of a Labour group that wants Devon County Council to join local fishermen industry leaders in calling on the government to tackle the growing crisis in the fishing sector caused by complicated new export rules, unclear catch quotas and growing bureaucracy.[1]

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

This has resulted in many fishing boats being tied up in local ports until the situation is resolved. The export of fish from the United Kingdom to mainland Europe is also a concern. Post-Brexit export deals could mean a dramatic increase in the red tape needed to export seafood from Devon to the EU.[2]

Last week a Scottish fisheries chief threatened to dump his rotten catch on politicians in "doorstep if the situation did not improve. Fishing rights could become a major sticking point in trade negotiations after the British exit from the bloc in January 2020 as European nations seek to retain access to waters they have fished for decades or centuries. Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin met representatives of fisheries organisations on Monday afternoon.[3]

The UK fishing sector is facing immediate hardship and permanent damage from the new agreement with the European Union, according to industry leaders and boat owners. Many fishermen on the south coast of England are furious that EU boats are allowed to work within a six-mile radius of their home country. Anger over marginal increases in the share of fish the British fleet is allowed to catch outweighs the end of the quota-swap system, which allowed British boats to be better off than their continental counterparts.[4]

The gains in quota share in Europe hoped for by the British fishing industry are similar to the frustration many European fishermen have sacrificed to achieve a broader trade agreement.[5]

British fish processors (a £4.2 billion industry) [59] [43] and fish farmers [60] - many of whom depend on continental markets - are hoping for a seamless transition to post-Brexit trade. However, the long-term picture extends beyond 2026 and the transition is a cause for concern for both the European and UK fisheries sectors. Despite the impact of Brexit, the fishing industry in Devon has not relaxed the restrictions associated with responding to the coronavirus pandemic.[6]

British fishing industry leaders have accused the Prime Minister Boris Johnson of acceding to a final Brexit trade agreement. Devon County Council heard last Thursday about the potential economic impact and opportunities for the county as a result of a Brexit trade deal. Cllr Rufus Gilbert, Cabinet member for business and skills, said it was too early to establish the extent of Brexit impact on Devons' fishing industry, but its impact was temporary and likely to be long-lasting.[7]

HOW DOES THIS IMPACT THE LEGAL SECTOR?

Under the final Brexit trade agreement between the UK and Brussels, 25 % of the fishing rights for EU boats will be transferred to the UK in UK waters over the next five and a half years. Under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement signed in December, EU vessels will continue fishing in UK waters for years to come. A quarter of EU fishing rights will be transferred over a five-year period to UK fleets, with a 15% reduction in the first year and a further 2.5 percentage points per year for specific quota allocations for different fish species.[8]

It is estimated that this will cost the UK fishing industry around £140 million a year by 2026. Denmark exports some 7,000 tonnes of DKK 50.9 million worth of shrimp to the UK, which are subject to customs duties. The duty does not cover canned mackerel, fresh cod, fresh mackerel, sealed packages of mussels and fishmeal worth 366 million Danish Kroner (491 million euros), of which 24% are exported to the UK.[9]

The media have been inundated with stories of stranded fish cargoes, outraged exporters struggling with new paperwork and significant losses, and established traders facing ruin. According to calculations, 148 out of 271 full-time workers in the fishing industry (mainly in the wholesale seafood trade) are at risk of losing their jobs. At home ports, many of which ship fish to Iceland, an estimated 1,500 people will lose their jobs in boats and fish processing plants, while workers in the land-based support industries and other sectors dependent on local economy based on fishing will be in significant numbers unemployed.[10]

While few in the fisheries sector were happy with the way things were going, details of the impact of the new trade deal were sought by Scottish fishing companies and driven past Parliament in a protest by fishermen against bureaucracy and coronavirus restrictions after Brexit. Many members of the fishing community said they felt let down by the government. Instead of boosting the industry, they said, the deal failed to deliver on what lawmakers and Brexit had promised, stifling their businesses with red tape and letting them wither.[11]

LONDON, 14 July (Reuters) - Britain will sell its fisheries under a trade deal with the European Union following Brexit on Wednesday, the head of an industry body said urging the government to do more for the sector and calling for an adjustment period. Under the agreement, the UK has agreed to an "adjustment period" during which fishing rights for block fleets in UK waters will be reduced to five years. After a transition period ending in 2020, Britain will be subject to the same rules and requirements as other third countries trading with the EU.[12]

The UK fishing industry was a poster child for Brexit during the referendum campaign to highlight what was wrong with making January the start of a new and different relationship with Europe.[13]

This ambiguity has led many in the UK fishing industry to fear that the government is preparing to grant EU states access to UK fishing waters in exchange for a trade agreement with the EU following 2020, which many fishermen have called a betrayal. Thirteen Scottish Conservative MPs likened the transition agreement to a cold sip and warned that they were prepared to vote on an agreement with their own party to reject an agreement that would not give full control of UK fishing waters back to the UK fishermen. European leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, have said that if French fishermen were not allowed full access to British waters, they would stop the government from advancing a post-Brexit trade deal with the EU, while Theresa May insisted that she would not sell British fishermen because the UK would become an independent coastal nation after leaving the EU.[14]

Written by LawMiracle