Brexit: Retired civil servant discusses fishing row

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A staggering 92 percent of people living in fishing communities are said to have voted for Brexit, with long-term problems within the industry driving a desire for change. But two years into the post-Brexit era, fishermen are reporting growing dissatisfaction with the Government’s handling of their predicaments and a widespread sense of being misled.

Cornish fishermen have since said they feel they were “sold a dream” with Brexit promises of “taking back control” of British waters. 

Paul Trebilcock, manager at Ocean Fish, a 300-year-old Cornish fishing company, said: “Senior people from the Government came down here and made us promises.”

Speaking to i, he added: “We had Michael Gove standing here on the harbour telling us we would have greater control of our seas, and a greater share of fish. 

“Nothing has changed. We’re pretty much in the same position as we were before. Maybe we’re a little worse off.”

He said he felt that West Country fishermen were “sold a dream” by the Government. 

Promises of “reclaiming our seas” and higher quotas for British fishermen have failed to transpire. 

Between 60 and 70 percent of fish caught and landed in Britain still heads to France, Spain, Italy, and beyond.

And assurances that waters up to 12 miles from UK land would be reserved for British fishermen have not transpired, with just six miles of coastline reserved.

Mr Trebilock said: “We have been massively short-changed and it does seem like boats down here have been hung out to dry.

“The increase in quota share for various species has been marginal.

“There’s also the issue of the six to 12-mile limit, which we were told would be ours, but that hasn’t happened.”

Another fisherman, Anthony Hendy, said: “The six-mile limit is a big problem for us because a lot of our fleet here is smaller boats which don’t go out in terrible weather – not usually anyway.

“The Belgians and French go out in any conditions because they have huge trawlers subsidised by the Government and it makes no difference to them. 

“It’s hard being sat here seeing them coming up within six miles from the coast getting all the fish. That should be ours. It’s not sustainable trawling the seas every day anyway.”

A new study — published by the University of York in collaboration with the New Economics Foundation, University of Lincoln and marine consultancy service ABPmer — backs up these fishermen’s claims. 

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Overall, the research concluded that Brexit “failed to deliver Government promises” in the fishing industry. 

The study — titled The Brexit deal and UK fisheries: Has reality matched the rhetoric?  — said it found that “while the government promised radical reforms to help the industry take back control of UK waters and increase quota shares, this is starkly at odds with the reality of what has been achieved.”.

Researchers analysed all available data on catch quotas, actual landings and the proportions of different fish species living in UK waters, and found that hundreds of thousands of promised increased catches have gone unfulfilled. 

A key promise made during the Brexit negotiations was to implement “zonal attachment”, where quota shares would be determined based on the proportion of fish stocks in each party’s waters. 

But the University of York study shows that almost all UK stocks are falling short of this promise, resulting in the loss of “at least 229,000 tonnes or £281 million” in revenue for the industry. 

Lead author of the study, Dr Bryce Stewart, said: “Government promises on Brexit and its benefits for the fishing industry were far in excess of what could be delivered. 

“The industry became an icon of Brexit with claims it would correct past injustices and breathe new life into neglected coastal communities, but our study reveals the stark delivery gap between rhetoric and reality.”

Dr Bryce added: “Many people in coastal communities who were pinning their hopes on post-Brexit reforms feel betrayed and this comes at a significant cost to their wellbeing and mental health.”

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