Fishermen say the EU wants ‘ever more access to our fishing grounds’.
Britons who earn a living fishing want the Government to fight their corner (Image: Getty)
Fishermen who face “daily peril on the sea” fear the UK will cave-in to European Union demands for guaranteed access to British waters as the Labour Government works to “reset” relations with the bloc.
Brussels is expected to insist on an early deal on fishing before it will consider deeper cooperation and the dismantling of trade obstacles.
Jerry Percy of Nutfa, which represents fishermen operating from smaller boats, said it is clear that the EU sees Brexit as the “starting point for ever more access to our fishing grounds”.
He said: “It would appear from recent comments by the present Government that they also are willing to put the UK’s fishing and processing sectors on the table and, going on past experience, we hold little hope for beneficial outcomes for those who face daily peril on the sea to put food on our plates.”
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Veteran Brexiteer Mark Francois, who chairs the European Research Group, said it would be “an absolute travesty and a total insult to the British fishing industry if Keir Starmer were to put fishing back on the table just to try and suck up to the EU and to Emmanuel Macron in particular”.
Post-Brexit arrangements for fishing access are due to expire in 2026. The EU wants to secure access to the UK’s exclusive economic zone – the area which extends up to 200 miles from the coast.
Richard Tice, the deputy leader of Reform UK, warned: “In 2016 we voted to take back control of our fishing waters from the EU and give a much needed lifeline to our fishing industry. The Tories failed our fishing industry and now Labour plan to sell them out all in the name of closer ties to an ever diminishing political union.
“We should be pushing for further protections for our fishing industry that protects them from EU vessels fishing in our waters.
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Mike Cohen, the chief executive of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations, said the industry felt “let down by the deal that Boris Johnson’s government did” because “EU boats continued to fish in British waters right up to six miles from the shore – a level of access to another state’s territorial waters that is unprecedented”.
He said the sector now expects the “new Government to negotiate robustly to improve the situation” despite signals that the EU is “taking a notably aggressive stance on fisheries matters” and “insisting on a greater say in how the UK manages its own fisheries”.
Mr Cohen said: “Our Government has said that they back British fishers, though, and we expect them to demonstrate this in the talks to come.”
A Government spokesman said: “We will protect the interests of our fishers and fulfil our international commitments to protect the marine environment. We are resetting the relationship with our European friends to strengthen ties and tackle barriers to trade.”
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