UK prime minister Theresa May was adamant in Parliament that Britain’s fishing industry is not about the be traded off, while not everyone is convinced following the political declaration made in Parliament.
‘The fisheries agreement isn’t something we will be trading off against any other priorities,’ Theresa May pledged in Parliament.
Responding to the Brexit political declaration, SFF chief executive Bertie Armstrong commented that this gives the UK ‘the power to assert its position as an independent Coastal State with full, unfettered sovereignty over our waters and natural resources.’
‘However we know that several EU nations will not give up their attempts to link access with trade in order to retain absolute rights to fish around our coastline,’ he said.
‘So we will continue to seek assurances from the UK Government that it will remain steadfast and will not rest until the future arrangements are signed, sealed and delivered and we secure that critical control over access to our waters and who catches what stocks, where and when.’
While Theresa May made a firm declaration, SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon commented that ‘it adds up to a blindfold Brexit.’
‘Just read Political Declaration. Lots of unicorns taking the place of facts about the future relationship. Fair play to the EU for pushing it as far as possible,’ she wrote, commenting that if a wider trade negotiation is not agreed by July 2020, neither will fishing agreement, bringing with it the possibility of two-year transition.
‘Looks to me like fishing will be a bargaining chip in wider trade negotiation (‘within the context of the overall economic partnership’). UKG was trying to get commitment to annual agreements on access – looks like they failed,’ Nicola Sturgeon said.
‘Another Tory sell out of fishing on the cards.’
EU Fisheries Alliance
A spokesman for the EU Fisheries Alliance of fishing associations in nine European countries expected to be most affected by the loss of access to UK waters commented that EUFA fully supports the efforts of Michel Barnier and Sabine Weyand.
‘A mutually beneficial post-Brexit framework for fisheries needs to ensure mutual access to waters, markets and fisheries resources,’ EUFA’s spokesman said.
