Scotland’s fishing fleets face cuts to valuable fisheries such as cod and haddock under the deal negotiated by the UK, the Scottish government believes.
It said its analysis showed there would be increases in the quota available for Scottish trawlers in only five of 13 fishing areas around or close to Scotland, with clear falls in several of the largest such as North Sea cod.
Fergus Ewing, the Scottish cabinet secretary for the rural economy, said that despite UK government claims the deal would greatly increase the catch for domestic trawlers, many fleets and ports would experience adverse impacts. That was “deeply troubling”, he said.
“This is a terrible outcome for Scotland’s coastal communities. The small gains in quota for mackerel and herring are far outweighed by the impact of losses of haddock, cod and saithe – and that threatens to harm onshore jobs and businesses too linked to harbours, fish markets and processing facilities.”
A senior member of the UK negotiating team conceded that the 25% uplift by value in UK fishing rights would not be achieved until 2025, the fifth year of the five-and-a-half year adjustment period.
“As the PM said on Christmas Eve in an ideal world we would like that [uplift rate] to be faster. But that’s what we were able to agree. And then at the end of that [adjustment] period, there is full control and normal annual negotiations on quotas,” the insider said.
They confirmed the formula involved an uplift of just 15% in the first year with an increase every year, culminating in a 25% increase in catch. “It uplifts most in the first year because we thought that was what would make the biggest difference,” the insider said.
The Scottish government analysis found that in six fisheries, the percentage of the quota available to UK fleets during the adjustment period would fall, particularly for the most heavily fished species of cod, haddock and whiting.
Those quotas include North Sea cod, one of the most valuable white fish fisheries, which would fall from 63.5% to 57% for the UK. North Sea haddock, another valuable fishery, would fall from 92.5% of the quota to 84.2%.
The Scottish government analysis, which did not include financial or tonnage data, said the quota would increase in five fisheries, including Irish Sea and west of Scotland haddock. UK government data show those fisheries are about two-thirds smaller than their North Sea equivalents. It would remain static in two fisheries.
Ewing said the fine detail of the deal showed many of the apparent gains were either unrealisable because they were technical, or irrelevant because EU fleets were not catching their full quota allocation. The deal also meant UK fleets could not swap quota with EU fleets.
“The quota either being given up by the EU or negotiated as a win by the UK government is of no worth nor value to Scottish fishing interests,” Ewing said.
Mike Park, the chief executive of the Scottish White Fish Producers Association, said his members were “deeply aggrieved” about the immediate future. It was far from clear whether fleets would benefit greatly once the transition period was over.
“The issue of sovereignty and our future ability to negotiate additional shares after the five-and-a-half-year window would seem clouded by so much complexity that it is difficult at this time to see how the UK government can use its newly recovered sovereignty to improve the situation of my members,” he said.
The National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations has condemned the deal as Boris Johnson’s “Ted Heath” moment, in reference to the then prime minister’s capitulation to the founding members of the European Community’s demand for access to British waters.
They say the UK team has jettisoned their interests and the deal does not stop French, Spanish trawlers fishing within six miles of the UK’s coastline.
The negotiating team denied this, saying the UK had regained sovereign control of British waters, albeit after a transition period, and this was “the diametric opposite of what happened in 1973”.