Fishing did not quite return to its pre-Brexit poster boy status in parliament recently, but certainly featured above its weight as MPs debated a motion for the UK to seek a return to membership of the European Union.
The debate, prompted by a recent petition to parliament that exceeded the 100,000-signature threshold required to trigger such debates, came as opinion polls show an increase in support for a trade deal, or a return to membership of the EU. Fifty-five percent of British people surveyed in the latest YouGov poll were in favour of a return to EU membership, with just 11% saying that Brexit had been a success.
Whilst the debate ranged over a wide number of issues, coastal MPs from all parties made the point that Brexit had badly let down the fishing industry – though for some speakers this was caused
by Brexit itself, with others blaming the subsequent TCA.
Featuring prominently in MPs’ comments relating to the fishing industry were complaints that since Brexit labour shortages had increased, export paperwork had imposed huge costs on fresh fish exporters and caused some shellfish businesses to close completely, and the promised quota bonanza had proved to be an illusion.
“Even where quota has been gained through the TCA,” said SNP MP for Aberdeenshire Seamus Logan, “much of it is for species that the Scottish fleet does not generally catch, or does not want to catch, making it of little practical value.
“In the wider seafood sector, some shellfish exporters have estimated that the new barriers to trade with the EU have resulted in additional costs of £500 to £600 per consignment, making some exports unviable. Seafood Scotland has described post-Brexit labour shortages as having a huge impact on the seafood processing sector, with businesses turning down growth opportunities due to a lack of labour.”
South West MP Caroline Voaden, who includes Brixham in her constituency, told MPs about the impacts that EU paperwork requirements were having on one local exporter, who since Brexit has required 17 documents to accompany exports. Brixham was ‘a place where the community believed the lies that they were told about what Brexit would mean for the fishing industry’, she said. “When campaigning in Brixham over the past couple of years, I lost count of the number of people who told me that they had been lied to and who felt cheated by Brexit.”
Northern Ireland MP Jim Shannon, whose constituency includes Portavogie, was of the view that a ‘bad Brexit’ was to blame, suggesting that the EU had acted in bad faith. “I could highlight the vile and repugnant way that the EU has used many constituents to hurt the UK for daring to leave,” he told MPs.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, there was little mention from Conservative MPs of fisheries at all, or of the TCA. The government made no formal commitments during the debate, although Defra ministers have made clear that a reduction in paperwork through a harmonised phytosanitary agreement with the EU remains a priority.
This story was taken from the latest issue of Fishing News. For more up-to-date and in-depth reports on the UK and Irish commercial fishing sector, subscribe to Fishing News here or buy the latest single issue for just £3.50 here.
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