Two Scottish fishermens’ associations are urging the UK government to confirm its commitment to leaving the Common Fisheries Policy on the 29th of March 2019 and to take full responsibility for UK waters immediately post-Brexit.
The Scottish White Fish Producers’ Association (SWFPA) and the Shetland Fishermen’s Association (SFA) between them account for close to three hundred fishing vessels operating in the North Sea and west of Scotland, and they warn that a failure to take back control and manage fisheries as an independent coastal state would be both damaging and unacceptable.
‘An implementation period in which the UK had no voting rights in framing EU laws and regulations concerning its own fisheries would expose Scottish fishermen to serious harm. We depend on the outcomes of annual fisheries talks and international agreements for our very existence,’ said SWFPA chief executive Mike Park.
‘It would be unthinkable to relegate our fishermen to the status of powerless bystanders in their own waters, unable to control or affect what happens in them. If the UK government is truly seeking to create stability for business as we exit the EU then it has to acknowledge the serious damage that can be caused to fishing as a result of a ‘one size fits all’ approach. Fishing is a unique industry that deserves bespoke treatment.’
His words were echoed by SFA executive officer Simon Collins, who commented that it would be a nonsense for the UK to hand responsibility for its waters straight back to Brussels at the point of Brexit.
‘It would not be an extension of the status quo – it would be far worse, as we would be powerless to prevent non-UK fleets hammering our fish stocks during the implementation period,’ he said.
‘We insist on full control over access to our waters and the management of our fisheries as an independent Coastal State from March 2019, when we withdraw from the EU and CFP. An implementation period may make sense for some business sectors, but fishing is emphatically not one of them.’
