Rees-Mogg’s hard Brexit won’t do anything for fishing communities
Ive met the author of this article. He understands fishing and fishing policy and his analysis which is well worth reading below throws an interesting spotlight onto the real rationale underpinning the Brexiteers featured in the article above.
Fishing quotas, by limiting the amount of catch, have worked as intended and have brought many fish populations in EU waters back to sustainable levels. The recent certification of North Sea cod as sustainable was a particularly hard-fought journey from a near collapse of the stocks. The value of fish landings is now increasing year-on-year, and profits in the fishing industry are at the highest level recorded.
And yet it is difficult to find signs of these positive trends in many fishing communities. This is partly due to changes in technology and labour markets, resulting in fewer fishing vessels each year (as in other EU and non-EU countries). But it’s also related to how the UK distributes its quota, and not just its total size. The decision on how quota should be distributed (big vessel or small, trawler or handline) has always been up to the UK government. The reality is that most Brexiteers have never engaged with the nuts and bolts of this issue, and we’re looking at two more years without real engagement.
Never mind the pollocks, here’s Michael Gove
All this has of course been lost in the political theatre around fisheries. The totemic nature of fisheries in the UK consciousness has made the industry ripe for photo-ops, but not for serious reform. This is extremely frustrating for struggling fishing communities, but it’s also very dangerous. Just weeks ago, Rees-Mogg was making the case for tariff-free imports of food products, post-Brexit, without a hint of concern that cheap imports would undercut British fishermen.
An industry that has been overlooked and politicians trying to make a name for themselves can make for interesting bedfellows, but not particularly good ones. Fishing communities deserve better.