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Peter Aldous, MP for Waveney, Suffolk, and chair of the Renaissance of East Anglian Fisheries, slammed the Government as having “yet to set out a compelling national vision for the future of English fishing”. He indicated that Brexit was a “start” as it had given the UK its coastal independence back, but urged the Government to “make up for lost time”.

As per the Brexit agreement reached with the EU at the end of last year, 25 percent of the EU’s fishing rights in UK waters will be transferred over to the UK from 2021 to 2026.

However, the majority of that – 15 percent – will be transferred in 2021, with a further 2.5 percent being transferred over in the following four years.

This “adjustment period” allows EU fishers time to get used to the new arrangements. They have until 30 June 2026, after which there will be annual negotiations to decide how the catch is shared between the UK and the EU.

By 2026, it is estimated that UK boats will have access to an extra £145m of fishing quota every year.

Negotiations between the Government, France and the European Commission are taking place this week to settle an ongoing dispute between the two nations over licenses for French fishermen to fish in UK waters.

The French government has repeatedly threatened to sanction the UK and Jersey over a perceived lack of access to British waters for its fishermen after Brexit.

However, Mr Aldous – a Tory backbencher since 2010 – poured cold water on the deal reached with the EU at the end of last year on fisheries.

Mr Aldous told the Lowestoft Journal: “There is no denying that the Trade and Co-operation Agreement with the EU was a bad deal for the East Anglian fishing industry.

“Whilst it is disappointing that the government are yet to set out a compelling national vision for the future of English fishing, it is heartening that work is being done at ‘grassroots’ level.”

While he did not give detail as to what about the deal was in his opinion bad, Mr Aldous did say that organisations such as Renaissance of East Anglian Fisheries were developing their own plans for the future of local fishing industries.

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He hoped that such plans might be incorporated into Government plans.

He called on the Government to do more for local fishing industries, such as the one on the East Anglian coast, including his constituency.

Mr Aldous said: “A tardy start has been made to the UK regaining its position as an Independent Coastal State and we now need to urgently make up for lost time.”

He added: “If this opportunity is grasped, fishing can play an important role in the future of local economies all around the coast, including in Lowestoft.”

In 2020, Parliament passed the Fisheries Act, which called for fishing to be “environmentally sustainable in the long term” and “such that fleets are economically viable but do not overexploit marine stocks.”

It also required that fishing activities “are managed using an ecosystem-based approach so as to ensure that their negative impacts on marine ecosystems are minimised and, where possible, reversed, and incidental catches of sensitive species are minimised and, where possible, eliminated.”

When the UK left the EU, it was no longer bound by the EU’s objective on maintaining fish stocks.

France had previously said it could stop UK boats landing in its ports if the row over fishing licenses for French vessels was not resolved by midnight on Monday night.

However, after the UK Government threatened to start “rigorous” checks on EU fishing activities in retaliation, just hours before his own deadline, Emmanuel Macron climbed down.

Last Monday, he cancelled the threats, and said that France would return to discussions.

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