The only remaining UK distant waters fishing company has some hard words for the way the British fishing industry has been managed post-Brexit.
UK Fisheries operates the Hull freezer trawler Kirkella, having taken trawlers Norma Mary and Farnella out of service due to the lack of fishing opportunities, laying off the majority of their crews.
‘Not only has this had a devastating impact on them and their families, it has also dealt a severe blow to the social and economic fabric of the Humberside region,’ a UK Fisheries representative commented, referring to what the company refers to as ‘the abject failure of the fisheries policy of the previous administration.’
UK Fisheries now has less than half the quotas available to it than is had in 2019, and the company warns that it could be forced to call time on British distant waters fisheries.
‘The sad truth is that a succession of Defra ministers failed to instruct their civil service negotiators to do what they so easily might have done – negotiate a fair and balanced deal with Norway and other trading partners around the North Sea that would have enabled us to maintain our quotas in our traditional grounds,’ the company states.
‘We do not understand why this was allowed to happen, especially at a time when the previous government was boasting of a post-Brexit “sea of opportunity” for British fishers. What we do know is that a tiny minority (fewer than 30 vessels) of the UK fishing fleet has benefited enormously, while the cost to the others has been devastating.’
