Legislation creating the powers the United Kingdom needs to operate as an independent coastal state after leaving the European Union has been introduced into U.K. Parliament.
According to the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA), for the first time since 1973, the new Fisheries Bill will enable the country to control who may fish in its waters and on what terms. It also gives the United Kingdom the power to implement new deals negotiated with the E.U. and with other coastal states.
The bill aims to deliver on the U.K. government’s commitment to sustainable fishing and marine conservation as set out in its 25-Year Environment Plan through the following measures:
• Controling access – by ending current automatic rights for E.U. vessels to fish in U.K. waters. In future, access to fish will be a matter for the country to negotiate and it will decide on the terms – foreign vessels would have to follow U.K. rules.
• Setting fishing opportunities – by proposing powers to ensure that the United Kingdom can set its own fishing quota and days at sea, which it will negotiate as an independent coastal state.
• Protecting the marine environment – by ensuring fisheries management decisions are taken strategically for the benefit of the whole marine environment.
DEFRA said that while the outcome of the United Kingdom’s negotiations to withdraw from the EU or on a future economic partnership are not yet known, the government has been clear that market access for fisheries products is separate to the question of fishing opportunities and access to waters.
The new legislation also proposes ways in which the U.K. government and the Devolved Administrations will work together to adopt common approaches to fisheries management in certain areas – including preserving U.K. vessels’ right to fish across the four zones of U.K. waters and creating a consistent approach to managing access of foreign vessels.
“This new Fisheries Bill will allow us to create a sustainable, profitable fishing industry for all of the U.K. It will regenerate coastal communities, take back control of our waters and, through better conservation measures, allow our precious marine environment to thrive,” U.K. Environment Secretary Michael Gove, said. “The Common Fisheries Policy has damaged the UK’s fishing industry and our precious fish stocks. The bill will deliver a sustainable fishing industry, with healthy seas and a fair deal for U.K. fishermen.”
Scotland’s Fisheries Secretary Fergus Ewing welcomed the increased powers given to the Devolved Administrations, highlighting that in previous iterations the bill gave sweeping powers to the Secretary of State to set quotas, which would have undermined the Scottish Parliament.
"We remain very concerned more generally, however, about the ongoing lack of clarity on a host of other key issues which are of critical concern to seafood industries; both onshore and offshore. These include the status of E.U. nationals after Brexit, the potential significant non-tariff barriers our exporters may face after Brexit, and replacements for vital E.U. funding streams such as EMFF. The U.K. government needs to provide clarity on these critical concerns as a matter of urgency,” he said.
Meanwhile, the E.U. Energy and Environment Sub-Committee has written to Gove after his recent appearance in front of the committee raised serious concerns about his department’s preparations for a “no deal” Brexit scenario. Among its trepidations were the U.K. government’s ability to control access to U.K. waters, particularly that Gove is yet to receive permission to obtain the additional staff and boats required for fisheries control and enforcement.
