More than half of fish in UK's Exclusive Economic Zone 'landed by foreign boats'

More than half of all the fish and shellfish landed from the UK’s Exclusive Economic Zone was caught by non-UK fishing boats between 2012 to 2014, according to a new study.

The research, conducted by the University of the Highlands and Islands’ NAFC Marine Centre on behalf of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation, found that EU vessels caught significantly more fish in the UK’s EEZ than the British fleet caught elsewhere in EU waters, with the EU haul in UK waters of more than 650,000 tonnes dwarfing the UK’s haul in EU waters of just 90,000 tonnes.

The EU catch in UK waters represented about £400m a year, and revealed the “truly shocking extent of how our rich fishing grounds have been given away in recent decades”, said Scottish Fishermen’s Federation CEO Bertie Armstrong.

In contrast, UK vessels accumulated less than £100m worth of fish a year in other waters, the report added, while half of all demersal fish, almost two-thirds of the pelagic fish and almost all of the industrial fish landed from the UK’s EEZ by EU fishing boats were caught by non-UK vessels, it claimed.

Brexit would enable the UK to reassert control of its 200-mile EEZ, meaning foreign vessels could not then fish in the zone without express consent, said Armstrong, who called for the best possible deal for UK fishing crews.

“It would be a monumental betrayal of our coastal communities if this opportunity was traded away in the forthcoming Brexit negotiations,” Armstrong said. But he added Brexit had the potential to turn Scotland into a “world-leading sustainable seafood harvesting and exporting nation”.

The government has so far been tight-lipped over its post-Brexit plans for the seafood sector and whether the UK will take back full control over its EEZ.

However, PTF director general Andrew Kuyk, who is spearheading a new UK Seafood Industry Alliance tasked with lobbying the government over its Brexit negotiating position, warned last month that Brexit negotiations with the EU and unpicking the Common Fisheries Policy, while also considering an end to EU funding, external tariffs, access to waters, and conservation, would be “a huge challenge”.