In a letter to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday 17 November, the representatives of the UK fisheries sector urged the government to stand firm in fisheries negotiations with the EU “to ensure that sovereignty is regained over our waters and fishing opportunities agreed in international discussions”. (see EUROPE 12602/20).
The National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations (NFFO) and the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation (SFF) warn that a bad fisheries agreement would be a failure on the promises made to the sector.
“Anything given away now will never be regained, so we urge you hold firm and bring back a deal that our proud industry can get behind” write Elspeth Macdonald, Executive Director of SFF, and Barrie Deas, Executive Director of NFFO.
They call for annual fisheries negotiations and “a much fairer share of the resources”. The authors of the letter criticise “the EU’s unreasonable and legally unsustainable position”. It simply “cannot be right for an independent island nation to give away 70% of the fish caught in our waters”.
These federations call on the EU to choose either a stable framework agreement “that respects UK sovereignty” or a much more uncertain route for the EU, namely the absence of a framework agreement. Link to the letter: https://bit.ly/36JFBHR (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)