Tag Archives: Brexit
Brexit and Covid: Mackay predicts the current decline will see some Ayrshire fishermen leave the industry
Tony Mackay predicted that the current decline will see some Ayrshire fishermen call it a day and leave the industry altogether. The value of fish landings within the Ayr district, which includes the major Port of Troon and other smaller towns and villages, fell by a massive 33 per cent to £9 million last year. And the tonnage fell by 26 per cent to 3.7 million.,, “I don’t think there’s any problem with the fish stocks in terms of a significant decline, it’s just problems with Brexit, the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns. >click to read< 10:16
Fishermen’s urgent plea to Boris Johnson over Brexit and funding
The government has set aside a £100million investment fund for the industry, and has promised to replace funding that came via the EU. Now the local fishermen, who number around 600, and the workers who depend on the industry, want to see Brixham land the money to safeguard the future of their historic industry.,,, Fishermen were some of the strongest supporters of breaking away from the European Union, convinced by the potential to take back control of the UK’s waters, and harvest more of the fish in them. But many now see the government’s trade deal and fishing agreement with the EU as falling far short of what was promised. >click to read< 08:55
Extortion: France will reduce Jersey electricity supply this winter, unless fishermen granted licences for British waters
Speaking on Friday, outspoken French European Affairs Minister Clement Beaune said his government would hold firm against Britain and continue to demand more fishing licences. The European minister said that France may be forced to cut electricity, although not totally, to the Channel Island of Jersey, a self-governing dependency of the United Kingdom, during the winter as part of a “targeted” retaliation in the fishing dispute. >click to read< 07:39
Parts of UK fishing industry feel ‘stabbed in the back’ by Brexit deal
One of the major selling points of Brexit was that it would limit access to foreign trawlers and increase quotas for the UK industry. In the end, only minor changes took place, phased in over five years. Skipper Paul Corin voted for Brexit. Now he feels betrayed and has had to sell his family-owned trawler to keep the business alive. “The exports improved after Brexit with a lot of hard work from people, but the increase in quota that we were promised just didn’t materialize. This was a family boat, but we had to sell to a bigger company. We just didn’t have enough quota to keep the vessel running and make a profit,” Corin explained. “I think we were all stabbed in the back, we were promised lots of stuff and it hasn’t materialized and it’s not going to materialize,”,,, video, >click to read< 13:00
England’s biggest fish market at sunrise – Brixham Fish Market is truly the city that never sleeps
At the meek hour of 2am, boxes upon boxes of fish are being sliced, sorted, and shipped, generating thousands in revenue before the sun has begun to rise. The hours are gruelling with 4pm starts that don’t end until the next morning and some boats that land at Brixham spend seven days out at sea.,, “Brixham is a fish town. Tourists love to come here, they love to see the boats, they love to see the market. Despite being one of the worst-hit industries by Brexit and Covid, the market is currently experiencing a boom and earning figures of up to £800,000 in some weeks. 22 photos, >click to read< 09:00
Brexit Tie-up Scheme for Fishing Fleet is Announced – Trawler owners to be paid not to fish
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue has announced the launch of a Brexit Temporary Fishing Fleet Tie-up Scheme. The scheme will help mitigate the impacts of quota cuts on the fishing fleet arising from the Trade and Cooperation Agreement agreed in December between the European Union and the UK. >click to read< Trawler owners are to be paid up to €88,700 to not fish – He said that under the deal, these boats would tie-up at the quayside and cease all fishing activity for that month. In return, the vessel owner would receive a payment compensating for the lost fishing income. The vessel owners will in turn be required to distribute one-third of that payment to crew. >click to read< 09:52
Michael Gove’s startling Brexit admission: ‘EU will continue to have access to UK waters
Despite Downing Street calling a “mutual compromise”, it does seem Prime Minister Boris Johnson capitulated on one of the most contentious areas of Brexit trade talks: fishing rights. The UK wanted any fishing agreement to be separate from the trade deal with access negotiated annually in a similar fashion to Norway’s agreement with the bloc. Norway is an independent coastal state, with the rights and responsibilities under international law associated with that status. Stocks shared with the EU are managed through annual bilateral negotiations. Each autumn these talks set total allowable catches on the basis of scientific advice. This contrasts starkly with the position of the UK fishing industry within the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy, something the EU wanted to maintain at all costs. >click to read< 08:14
NFFO hits the UK Government for betrayal of the fishing industry during the Brexit negotiations
There are some in the fishing industry whose trust in the Government has been irrevocably shattered. The fishing industry was given assurances from the top of government, the Prime Minister, senior cabinet ministers and Chief Negotiator himself, Lord Frost, that our industry would not be sold out in negotiations with Europe, as it had been by Edward Heath in 1973. There was always a risk. Even when the fishing industry was used as the poster-child for Brexit, the NFFO paid for and distributed thousands of flags bearing the message,,, >click to read< 08:45
Boasts about boosting fishing quotas after Brexit have been branded “codswallop”- The fish don’t exist!
Regaining control of British waters was a major part of the Leave campaign before Brexit but six months on and questions have been raised about the supposed benefits An investigation using the Government’s own data and backed up by former officials has revealed that £31.8million worth of extra fish promised in Parliament “don’t exist”. That money should have come from a big rise in the quota for sole and plaice. But James White, 38, a fisherman from Felixstowe, said: “They can increase the quota a hundred fold and we won’t be able to catch more. These fish don’t exist.” >click to read< 08:03
Fishing Industry Urges Prime Minister To Support Industry After Brexit Fiasco
Scottish fisheries leaders have urged the Prime Minister to help them build back the industry after the bad Brexit deal, which left skippers battling for fishing opportunities while EU vessels continued to have full access to UK waters. At a business meeting in Fraserburgh, they asked Boris Johnson for action not words on improving prospects for the fleet in five years’ time when the arrangements are due to be revised. In the meantime, Mike Park, chief executive of the Scottish White Fish Producers’ Association, pressed Mr Johnson to order an independent review of the “flawed” science behind proposed quota cuts from ICES to key species such as cod for 2022. ‘As well as the lack of fishing opportunities, the industry is facing a spatial squeeze as offshore wind grows. >click to read< 10:33
The grants have been an absolute lifeline – Resilience Fund Supports the Fleet
More than 850 fishing vessels affected by Coronavirus and Brexit have received resilience funding from the Scottish Government this year. ‘I’m hugely grateful for the Scottish Government’s speedy response to our dire situation, firstly in March 2020 when there was the COVID-19 ‘market collapse’ and then in February in when the chaos caused by Brexit export restrictions hit us like a brick,’ said Kenneth Lamond, owner and skipper of the F/V Dunan Star which trawls for prawns around Skye, Small Isles and the Minches. ‘The speed with which the grant package got to boats saved many jobs and livelihoods up here – we couldn’t have got to sea without this aid and I would have had to let my crew go. The timely assistance is directly responsible for three families’ continued livelihoods and our tiny fishing community around Elgol would have been really struggling without this aid.’ >click to read< 13:58
The fishing war over Brexit has begun! Norway races to catch fish before they reach UK waters.
The fishing war over Brexit has begun! Norway is racing to catch fish before they reach UK waters. According to rumors, BREXIT would trigger a fishing competition among Norwegian trawlers as the Scandinavians strive to collect as many mackerel and herring as possible before migrating to British waters. Northern European fishermen are no longer allowed to fish up to the UK’s 12-mile coastline border under post-Brexit laws. As a result, Norwegian boats are racing to grab their catch before the salmon migrate west in September. N-TV, a German television station, has prophesied an impending “herring and mackerel race” between Norway and the United Kingdom. >click to read< 10:14
UK: Fishing industry is ‘drowning in sea of government incompetence’ following Brexit
North MP Jamie Stone has warned that the fishing industry is “drowning in a sea of government incompetence” following Brexit. Highlighting the plight of fishermen in the Highlands since the UK left the European Union, Mr Stone accused of Boris Johnston’s government of a “negligent attitude” towards the industry.,, One skipper has informed him there are “increased stand-offs between boats which pose serious risks to life”, while another wants aggressive boats banned from landing their fish in British ports. >click to read< 09:16
‘Why is the fishing industry having to fight their own government for survival?’
The fishing industry is seeking urgent clarification from government in the light of growing evidence that local vessels are being prevented from fishing traditional grounds by foreign owned and crewed fishing vessels. The issue was raised by Northern Isles MP Alistair Carmichael during a fishing debate in parliament on Tuesday morning. The Orkney and Shetland MP told UK fishing minister Victoria Prentis that he had urged her to give powers to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) to police the waters out to the 200-mile limit at the time the post Brexit fisheries bill was passing through parliament last autumn. >click to read< 13:22
Brexit: Deep and growing anger – “I cannot think of a single red line that was not crossed.”
Those were the words put to me by a senior figure in the fishing industry last week, a sentiment shared by fishermen across the country who feel betrayed by Boris Johnson. Indeed I cannot remember a time when I saw every sector of the fishing industry this despondent about the future. That is why this morning we are – together – challenging the government to change course. A year or two ago, you couldn’t find a harbour in the country that didn’t have a Tory politician standing on the deck of a trawler posing for pictures. >click to read< Brexit: Fishing industry faces ‘existential threat’ over export costs – Seafood firms have seen export costs “treble” in the six months following Brexit, leading MPs to warn that the industry now faces an “existential threat”. >click to read< 08:40
Scottish fisherman – “cheaper and quicker” to export to Asia than France because of Brexit rules.
Jamie McMillan hit out at the “waste” caused by UK’s withdrawal from the single market, which means three hours of paperwork every morning to get his shellfish to the EU. Since Brexit, a single delivery by McMillan can need more than 80 pages of forms,,, McMillan said: “It’s just madness. It’s a waste of paper, a waste of time, a waste of environment, a waste of cost.” He has 22 employees but is worried Brexit could cost them their jobs, because his sales are down 40 per cent since Brexit. He had turned to Asian markets to save his business. >click to read< 18:02
Ireland’s fishermen and farmers fight the Brexit fallout
Ireland’s fishermen and farmers took to Dublin to protest what they feel are unfair regulations. They are not happy with the Irish government either, which they say is failing to stand up for them. The issues involved for our fishermen and farmers are different, of course, but they go back to the same roots, as we will explain in a moment. First the fishermen. In the middle of last week, a huge flotilla of fishing boats sailed up the Liffey,,, It was the most picturesque protest we have seen here in a long time. >click to read< 18:12
French and Jersey fishermen must talk
STOP – arrêt! It is time for the Jersey and French fishermen to sort out their problems for themselves. It is no use their relying on the parliamentary dignities of Paris and London, nor the statesmen of Jersey or Normandie – they do not understand your problems because they are not fishermen. For the past 20 or so years you have fished together under the agreement of the Bay of Granville. You worked this out together and you can do it again. >click to read< 14:17 From Denise Waller
Fishing protest: ‘This isn’t about fishermen; this is about every single citizen of the State’
In the early hours of Wednesday morning, dozens of fishing boats cruised quietly up the river Liffey in a kind of stealth assault on the capital. The silence would not last long.,,, Children held placards demanding their futures be protected; fishermen wore baseball hats insisting being allowed catch 15 per cent was not enough, a reference to the proportion of fish available to them in Irish waters. Patrick Murphy, chief executive of the Irish South and West Fish Producers Organisation,“The Irish people have to understand this isn’t about fishermen; this is about every single citizen of the State,” photos, video, >click to read< 08:39
UK’s fishing crews outraged at Brexit betrayal five years after
It’s 5am on a brisk June morning and on board the Girl Pamela fishing vessel, skipper Graham Nicholas is taking me through some basic housekeeping ahead of a 12-hour stint at sea. “If you need to piss or puke,” he says, “do it overboard. If you need to shit, do it in the bucket.” On the fifth anniversary of the vote to leave the EU, many say their industry has been betrayed Above all, he has one outstanding question. As Brexit negotiations faltered over fishing rights last year, “But if we’re so unimportant, how comes the Europeans fought so f****g hard for their fishermen?” >click to read<19:03
A flotilla will sail up the Liffey. ‘We want the Government to fight for us’: Fishermen to protest Brexit-related cuts
The Government faces a backlash from fishermen, In a sector that employs 16,000 people, the mood is restive and many fear ruin. “To put it in weather terms, we’ve been hit with not alone one tsunami but a second tsunami and that’s the problem,” said Seán O’Donoghue, chief executive of Killybegs Fishermen’s Organisation, the trade body for the State’s biggest fishing port in Co Donegal. “I’ve said this to the Taoiseach and the Ministers: I’m not interested in their sympathy. I’m interested in action.” >click to read< 21:00
‘Fishing in Ireland was sold out during the Brexit talks’ – Fishing families to stage rally in Dublin
Adrian McClenaghan is deeply proud of the fact four generations of his family have fished off the Irish coast. “But none of us faced the crisis that Shaun now faces in the industry. Fishing in Ireland was sold out during the Brexit talks. If this continues without the Government taking firm action to save our industry, there won’t be a future in the sector for the next generation of young fishermen.” The Donegal skipper and father-of-four will be one of the keynote speakers at a rally in Dublin on Wednesday,,,>click to read< 07:40
Irish Fishing fleet could be ‘slashed’ because of Brexit,
Ireland’s fishing fleet is likely to be slashed because of Brexit, an interim Government report on the impact of Brexit on the fishing industry has concluded. The cuts will, the Government hopes, ensure those left in the industry can survive on a “sustainable” footing. While measures being discussed include a temporary voluntary cessation scheme for fishers, other measures include cutting the number of vessels in the fleet altogether. >click to read< 18:55
Fishermen to stage protest in Dublin to highlight threat to income from Brexit and EU fish quota cuts
The protest will take place on Wednesday, June 23 and will include boats from Dublin, Louth, Donegal, Wexford, Waterford, Kerry, Cork and other counties.,, Irish fishing groups warned their livelihoods are now at stake because of quota cutbacks and the impact of the Brexit deal. “We want a renegotiation of EU Common Fisheries Policy so that Ireland is allocated a fair share of fish quotas that reflect the contribution of our fishing grounds to the EU,” a spokesperson said. Irish fishermen have also demanded that traditional access to fishing grounds around Rockall be reinstated immediately. >click to read< 10:50
End of the line? How Brexit left Hull’s fishing industry facing extinction
It was a Wednesday morning and it had been touch and go whether all of them would be able to get time off from their day jobs to make the trip. Seven hours later, they stood on the quayside at Greenwich, as Princess Anne swung a bottle of champagne at the looming yellow hull of the UK’s newest and biggest whitefish trawler. Many of the people gathered that day had voted for Brexit in the EU referendum and hopes were high that it would usher in a new era for a British industry that had been dwindling for years. The Kirkella was the larger of two new boats built by the private company UK Fisheries in 2018, at a combined cost of nearly £59m, landing fish at Hull for the first time in a decade. The Princess Royal summed up the optimistic mood on the quayside when she offered her congratulations “to the owner for their investment in the future of fishing”. As the bottle smashed against the boat, the players launched into a lung-busting rendition of Hearts of Oak. >click to read< 09:02
Fishing industry ‘sold down river’ by Brexit
When I read that those fish and chip shops supplied by our trawler fleet some years ago are now being supplied by Norwegian trawlers, I have to ask myself…how in heaven’s name did we allow this to happen? And when I read in the same article that good quality fish, caught by our own fisherman, were left rotting on the quayside, almost mirroring fish caught by British fishermen having to be thrown back although dead, but perfectly fit to enter our food chain, I considered both a criminal act, and if they weren’t they should have been. >click to read< 11:55
Protest “Steam-In” – Fishermen Will ‘Show & Tell Crazy Scenario” in Cork Port
Fishing vessels are due to steam up the river Lee to Cork city on Wednesday in protest over serious issues affecting the Irish industry. The protest fleet will assemble off Roches Point, Cork Harbour at 7 am on Wednesday, >click to read< “We are not being treated fairly by either the EU or the government who are not protecting the natural resource of Ireland to which Irish people should have the major rights,,, “Fishermen don’t want to be in this situation. It is not what they want to be doing, but they are left with no choice; things are so bad. >click to read< 09:41
Letter: Brexit mess will last for decades
Last-minute negotiations were all about the fishing industry. Instead of helping them the fishermen have been badly let down, being paid £23million in compensation. We are unable to sell our shellfish to the EU which is the main market. Not to mention problems for farmers and dairy and processed meat exporters. We are now no longer allowed to fish for cod in Arctic waters after a failed deal with Norway, which was an automatic right while part of the EU. Your fish and chips will certainly go up in price now I’m afraid folks!,,, Then there’s Northern Ireland. >click to read< 16:41
‘Some will call it a day’, warns East Neuk prawn fisherman as Coronavirus and Brexit impact bites
It was presented as a “sea of opportunity” that would lead to post-Brexit Britain becoming an independent coastal state and a chance to “take back control” of our fishing waters. But when eighth generation East Neuk fisherman Graham Gourlay reflects on the combined double whammy of Coronavirus and Brexit on his industry, he says that “without a doubt” some prawn fishermen will sell-up unless market conditions dramatically improve soon.,, In depth article, photos, >click to read<08:46
“It’s a peaceful protest,,, Why are French fishermen angry about Jersey’s post-Brexit fishing licences?!!
The issue is over fishing licences post-Brexit. Jersey is a British crown dependency, but it’s only 19km off the coast of France and around 250 French boats regularly fish the waters around the island, supporting around 900 families and another 2,000 jobs on shore. As part of Brexit related fishing talks it was agreed that French boats which had habitually fished around Jersey would be allowed to continue doing so, but would need new licences. Because of Jersey’s unusual status, owned by the British Crown but not actually part of the UK, these licences come from Jersey authorities, not the British government in London. But the fishermen say that when they received their licenses they had new requirements and limitations,,, >click to read< 11:29
