Recent weeks have seen key parts of the UK\u2019s fishing industry facing challenges arising from post-Brexit border delays with the European Union (EU), which have been affecting routes to market for fresh seafood. The issue has attracted particular controversy in Scotland, where the First Minister has accused the UK government of \u2018selling out\u2019 the industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What is going on? And are the challenges temporary or indicative of a longer-term challenge?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prior to Brexit, the UK\u2019s fishing industry was managed under the EU\u2019s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP)<\/a>. The CFP has several goals, including seeking to ensure the sustainability of EU fish stocks. It also enshrines equal access to EU waters for all nation states (with a single EU exclusive economic zone) and various restrictions (or quotas) on what could be caught and where.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The CFP, like its partner the Common Agriculture Policy, has been controversial and subject to criticism<\/a>. Key disputes have centred over debates around quotas and whether or not they are sufficient\/too much to protect both stocks, and most contentiously, access to UK waters for EU vessels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n UK waters are a major source of fish, including for non-UK fishing boats, contributing 35% of the quantity and 23% of the value of the fish landed by other member state vessels from North Atlantic waters (which includes all of the seas around the UK). The three EU countries catching the most are France, the Netherlands and Denmark. The most valuable fish caught here (for other member states) are herring, mackerel and sole (Pilkington and Wardlaw, 2018<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n On 1 January 2021, the UK completed its exit from the EU, with a free trade agreement\u00a0signed shortly before the deadline<\/a>. A key stumbling block during the negotiations was reaching an agreement on access to UK waters for fishing by EU boats (and vice versa). Perhaps unsurprisingly therefore, the final deal of 1,200 pages<\/a> includes a whole section and numerous annexes dedicated to fisheries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Broadly speaking, there are two aspects of the new UK-EU relationship that affect the UK\u2019s fishing industry:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Under December\u2019s Trade and Cooperation Agreement<\/a>, EU boats will continue to fish in UK waters for some years to come. But over time, this will gradually be reduced. A quarter of EU boats' fishing rights in UK waters will be transferred to the UK fishing fleet over a period of just over five years \u2013 with a 15% reduction in the first year and 2.5 percentage points each year after and specific quota allocations for different species of fish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is estimated<\/a> to be worth approximately \u00a3140 million per year to the UK fishing industry by 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After this adjustment period, there will be negotiations each year to set the amount that EU fishing boats can catch in UK waters (and vice versa). In principle, from 2026, the UK could exclude non-UK boats from UK waters, but the EU could respond with similar restrictions for UK boats and\/or tariffs on UK exports to the EU (as well as undermining the entire trade deal).<\/p>\n\n\n\n In terms of \u2018market access\u2019, the trade deal that was agreed between the UK and the EU avoided costly tariffs being placed on exports of UK fish to the EU. These tariffs could have been as high as 25% on processed fish exports, such as frozen mackerel. <\/a>But with the UK now outside the EU\u2019s single market, non-tariff barriers have been established, including increased customs checks and relevant certificates required to be signed-off before fish exports can enter the EU. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The main issues appear to be around salmon, and the small fishers who need to get shellfish, including crabs, to market promptly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2019, there were 4,491 active fishing vessels in the UK fleet<\/a>, although approximately a third (35%) have annual fishing income under \u00a310,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When comparing the number of fishers in 2019 with the earliest year in official UK government time series \u2013 1938 \u2013 the number of fishers on UK registered vessels has decreased by three-quarters: from close to 48,000 to just over 12,000<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\nHow important is the fishing industry?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Figure 1: Number of UK fishers since 1938<\/h4>\n\n\n