December 28, 2020 — Fishing was one of the final sticking points in the post-Brexit trade talks. While fishing is a tiny part of the economy on both sides of the Channel, it carries big political weight.
Regaining control over UK waters was a big part of the Leave campaign in 2016 but some activists have already criticised what is in the deal.
What’s the deal in a nutshell?
- EU boats will continue to fish in UK waters for some years to come
- But UK fishing boats will get a greater share of the fish from UK waters
- That shift in the share will be phased in over five and a half years
- After that, there’ll be annual negotiations to decide how the catch is shared out between the UK and EU
- The UK would have the right to completely exclude EU boats after 2026
- But the EU could respond with taxes on exports of British fish to the EU
What’s the detail on fishing?
The deal runs to more than 1,200 pages, with a section on ‘Fisheries’ along with several detailed annexes.
Both sides have agreed that 25% of EU boats’ fishing rights in UK waters will be transferred to the UK fishing fleet, over a period of five-and-a-half years.
This is known as the “transition period” (giving EU fleets time to get used to the new fishing relationship). The EU wanted it to be longer, the UK wanted it shorter – it looks like they’ve met somewhere in the middle, with an end date of 30 June 2026.
According to the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations, which has been briefed on the matter by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, EU fishing quota in UK waters will be reduced by 15% in the first year and 2.5 percentage points each year after.
By June 2026, it’s estimated that UK boats will have access to an extra £145m of fishing quota every year. In 2019, British vessels caught 502,000 tonnes of fish, worth around £850m, inside UK waters.