Tag Archives: Trade deal
U.K. Fishing industry ‘on course to lose £300m post-Brexit’
Chief executive Barrie Deas said the best opportunity in years to boost the sector had been “squandered”, He said: “From reviewing these findings, the NFFO’s conclusion is that there are very few winners and a great many losers.,, “The best opportunity in a generation to revive the UK’s fishing industry and support our coastal communities has been squandered and we must act swiftly to learn from these lessons and support the sector in future negotiations.” UK Fisheries, which operates Hull’s last distant water trawler Kirkella, said they were “60 per cent down” on what they had been able to catch previously. >click to read< 07:32
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
Brexit: What does the trade deal mean for fisheries? All the Fish related bits in the Brexit deal to read at your leisure: Articles 1-19
Contrary to many dire predictions, we finally have a Brexit trade deal, and with it an agreement on how the UK and EU will manage shared fisheries into the future. The fishing industry has experienced an unusually high profile since the Brexit referendum, but this reached dizzy heights over the last few months of 2020, as disagreements over fishing quotas and access were said to be the final barrier to a wider agreement. So now that the deal has been landed, how does the catch measure up? >click to read< All the Fish related bits in the Brexit deal to read at your leisure: Articles 1-19. – Article FISH.1: Sovereign rights of coastal States exercised by the Parties. The Parties affirm that sovereign rights of coastal States exercised by the Parties for the purpose of exploring, exploiting,,, >click to read< 08:40
No legal basis for the UK’s distant-waters vessels to fish cod in Norwegian waters from the end of this year
Britains latest state-of-the-art trawler, the £52 million Kirkella, has been laid up in Hull as the Government failed to negotiate new fishing quotas with Norway in time for Brexit Day on 1 January. Instead of ‘taking back control’ with the revival of the UK’s fishing industry, trawlermen in Hull face losing their jobs and the country faces the demise of the distant-waters fishing industry. >click to read< 11:05
Efforts to Break Deadlock Continue, Kilmore Quay Outlines its Fears – Last-ditch post-Brexit trade talks to resume between EU, UK
As efforts continue to agree a final Brexit deal, two Wexford fishermen have outlined on RTÉ Radio Countrywide how devastating loss of access to British waters will be. “Brexit is going to affect every port and harbour where fishing is the lifeblood of communities,” Will Bates (43), a third-generation fisherman,, Video, >click to read< 12:57
Last-ditch post-Brexit trade talks to resume between EU, UK – European Union and British negotiators Sunday entered what is potentially the final attempt to strike a deal over future trade ties, even though “significant differences remain” on three essential points. With less than four weeks remaining before the Jan. 1 cutoff day, >click to read<
EU backs U.S. lobster trade deal
Thanksgiving just got a little bit better for the Maine lobster industry. The European Union parliament on Thursday approved a mini trade deal with the United States, which includes the elimination of customs duties on U.S. lobster imports. The passage with 638 votes for, 45 against and 11 abstentions was the last major political step for the deal to come into effect. As a result, the 27-nation EU will drop its 8% tariff on U.S. lobsters for the next five years and work to make the move permanent. >click to read< 06:35
National Fisheries Institute Statement on EU Parliament Removing Tariffs on U.S. Lobster
The National Fisheries Institute (NFI) welcomes today’s announcement that lawmakers in the European Parliament’s trade committee have voted in favor of removing tariffs on U.S. lobster and encourage the full Parliament to back the deal when they vote. The duties on live and frozen U.S. lobster shipped to the EU had been between 8 and 20 percent, but as part of a mini trade deal announced by the Trump Administration in August, the rate will drop to zero. NFI applauds President Trump and Ambassador Lighthizer for focusing on U.S. seafood exports. We also commend Senator Susan Collins on her steadfast advocacy for the U.S. seafood community. >click to read< 08:47
Brexit Trade Deal: UK is Open to a Sensible Fishing Compromise, Environment Secretary Says
Trade talks between the EU and the UK after Brexit have been at an impasse for months due to broad differences over fishing quotas, a level playing field, and governance. “There are still differences. On fisheries we’ve always been open to doing a sensible approach, looking potentially at agreements that might span a couple, three years for instance. The issue will become what are the sharing arrangements, how much mutual access do we allow in one another’s waters and that’s obviously a discussion that will happen annually,,, >click to read< 09:20
Brexit May Be Too Late to Save Britain’s Fishermen
Derek Reader coats the deck of his 40-foot fishing boat in salt-resistant paint ahead of another punishing winter hunting plaice, turbot and cod in the Irish Sea. He hopes it will be his last season. The U.K. has made regaining control of its fishing grounds a central demand in protracted and fraught talks on a post-Brexit trade deal with the European Union. Yet the last trawlerman in the English port of Fleetwood, which once boasted 120 vessels like his, plans to sell the MFV Albion and quit the industry. “I voted for Brexit and I hope that we do take back our waters, but it’s too late for Fleetwood,” said Reader, 60. “If a new fishing deal helps me get a better price that’s great, but I can’t make ends,,, >click to read< 09:39
Alarm in Irish lobster sector over Hogan’s new US trade deal
The Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine says Ireland is “still considering” the full implications of the “mini-deal”, which was welcomed as “mutually beneficial” by Mr Hogan and US President Donald Trump’s trade negotiator Robert Lighthizer. The two men concluded the deal on August 21, two days after Mr Hogan attended the Oireachtas Golf Society dinner in Clifden, Co Galway, which led to his resignation last week. The EU has agreed to eliminate tariffs on imports of US live and frozen lobster for five years, in return for halving of tariffs imposed by the US on certain EU products, including ready meals and crystal glassware. The US exported more than $111m-worth of lobster to the EU in 2017. >click to read< 10:13
British fishermen should be able to double their catch in UK waters under new deal with EU
The intervention has come as fishing rights look set to dominate the fourth round of talks on a post-Brexit trade deal with the EU. The country’s fishermen’s federations said they backed the UK Government’s uncompromising stance in ruling out any extension to the transition period, which ends in December, saying any further delay to leaving the hated Common Fisheries Policy[CFP] would only prolong the uncertainty that the sector had suffered since the 2016 EU referendum. >click to read< 12:48
Boris fires back at EU’s ‘wishful thinking’ amid fears UK ready to surrender on fishing – Boris Johnson’s official spokesman stepped in amid reports of a potential compromise agreement over future access to the UK’s territorial waters. Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, has signalled he is ready to give ground on his “maximalist” position that calls for the same level of access to UK waters as in the Common Fisheries Policy. The Frenchman could agree to a Norway-style fisheries treaty, with annual negotiations on quota shares and access,,, >click to read<
Schumer Votes No On USMCA Trade Deal Because It Doesn’t Include Climate Change
The Senate passed the deal by a margin of 89-10. The USMCA‘s supporters say the bipartisan trade agreement could help America’s farmers, ranchers, businesses and workers. “Despite the fact that it includes very good labor provisions, I am voting against USMCA because it does not address climate change, the greatest threat facing the planet,” the New York senator said in a press statement addressing his vote. ” … the USMCA falls far too short.” >click to read< 09:46
US lobster industry hopes new deal renews trade with China
One group that is cautiously optimistic about the trade deal signed Wednesday between the U.S. and China is the lobster industry. The hope is that the deal will reopen one of the biggest markets in the world for lobsters. China is one of the biggest export destinations for lobster, which are trapped in the cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean by American and Canadian fishermen. >click to read< 06:59
Maine lobster industry will benefit from the China trade deal, Sen. Collins says – >click to read<
U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement – U.S. and Canada Reach Nafta Deal
The accord restores—for now, at least—harmony with two neighbors that Mr. Trump has repeatedly criticized in public, paving the way for him to hold a late-November signing ceremony with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto. “It’s a good day for Canada,” Mr. Trudeau told reporters as he left a special Sunday-night cabinet meeting at his offices to go over the framework of the agreement. Early Monday, Mr. Trump tweeted: “It is a great deal for all three countries, solves the many deficiencies and mistakes in NAFTA, greatly opens markets to our Farmers and Manufacturers, [reduces] Trade Barriers to the U.S. and will bring all three Great Nations closer together in competition with the rest of the world.” >click to read<11:45
Christmas tail: Europe deal could slow yuletide lobster biz
A trade deal between Canada and the European Union could amount to a lump of coal for the U.S. at Christmastime. The Christmas season is typically a busy time of year for American seafood exporters, as the type of lobster that is native to North America is popular in some European countries around the holiday. But Canada and the EU brokered a deal this year that gets rid of tariffs on Canadian lobster exports to the 28-nation bloc. Canada, the world’s other major lobstering nation, is now at an economic advantage over the U.S. Members of the U.S. lobster industry, which is based in New England, said exports to Europe have been pretty typical this year, but they’re worried about the future. click here to read the story 11:10
Maine lobster industry braces for impact of Canada’s sweet EU deal
More than 1,700 fishing boats raced out of Nova Scotia ports before first light Tuesday morning on what is known as Dumping Day – the opening of Canada’s biggest and most lucrative lobster fishery. It also signals the start of when their U.S. rivals in Maine and Massachusetts will begin to feel the sting of the 8 percent tariff differential created when Canada signed a new trade deal with Europe, leaving American lobstermen to wonder just how much of that valuable market they are about to lose. click here to read the story 07:51
Fleet separation, trade deal big election issues for Cape Breton fishermen
The fishery is one of the largest sectors in the Cape Breton economy, and while there are several issues of concern to fishermen in the federal election, none of them has made a big splash during the campaign. No one is sure why that is, but lobster fisherman Kevin Squires of Big Bras d’Or, president of Local 6 of the Maritime Fishermen’s Union, said those issues should be getting more attention. “Look around Cape Breton,” Squires said Sunday. “Look at our employment history and our employment prospects and look at what part of our economy,,, Read the rest here 18:31
Duty Free Canadian Fish Products to the EU – Good for Nova Scotia? Trade deal could kill the seafood processing industry.
“The details aren’t completely clear as to exactly what it will mean to the fisheries in Nova Scotia. We have heard certain things about European boats having access to Canadian waters,” said Angela Giles, Atlantic regional organizer for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternative. more@cbcnews 09:16
