Fishermen in the North look forward to leaving EU

harold-young-golden-emblem-fishing-for-leaveIn Portavogie on the Ards peninsula a new flag is flying proudly among the British union and Red Hand of Ulster flags fluttering from the lamp posts in this overwhelmingly unionist and loyalist fishing village in Co Down. It’s the “Fishing for Leave” ensign hoisted on the masts of many of the 40 or so trawlers that berth in this harbor. This is staunchly Brexit territory. Sitting on a bollard beside his trawler, the Golden Emblem, Harold Young says he doesn’t know of one fisherman who voted Remain in the referendum on whether or not the UK should stay in the European Union. Because of EU regulations and quotas he is mainly restricted to fishing for Dublin Bay prawns – more technically termed nephrops and also called the Norway lobster – and now believes there is a chance he will be able to catch whatever the sea offers up. Some years ago he was fined £20,000 (€22,000) for breaching a whitefish quota he had at the time, so the decision to get away from the bureaucracy of Brussels gladdens him. “Like the farmer, the fisherman should be able to land whatever is in season,” he says. Read the rest here 13:34

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