There is no doubt that Danish fishermen will be affected by the UK exit from the EU, according to the Danish Pelagic PO.
Esben Sverdrup-Jensen of the DPPO said that the situation is certainly a serious one – but at the moment nobody dares speculate too far, commenting that in both value and volume terms, approximately a third of Danish catches are taken in UK waters, and for the pelagic sector the figure is even higher.
‘It varies from year to year. But it’s at least 50% of Danish pelagic catches come from UK waters, and probably more than that in value terms,’ he said.
He stressed that with the referendum in the UK having taken place only a few days ago, it is still early days and so far there are few answers.
‘Nobody knows what Brexit means yet. In an extreme worst-case scenario, it could mean all UK waters closed off to fishing vessels from other nations, which would mean the loss of much of the sandeel fishery. But I don’t think that’s likely and that is an extreme scenario which would also mean no trade agreements or UK access to markets in Europe.’
‘UK fishermen have been very vocal about their desire to leave the EU and I can understand their frustration, which we share. The agreement on mackerel is a prime example of the disappointing agreements that have been negotiated. Even though a large sector of the industry made it clear to the European Commission where we should be heading, we feel that the EU was weak in its agreement on mackerel. There is a great deal of frustration at how weak the EU has been in international negotiations and also at how weak the member states have been,’ he said.
‘We feel that our voices have not been heard and our interests have not been delivered on, and the decision to allow the Faroes access to catch mackerel in EU waters adds insult to injury. This is what fuels the frustration with the EU system of operating.’
