Europe Annoyed by U.K.'s `Unhelpful' Pullout From Fishing Pact
Europe Annoyed by U.K.'s `Unhelpful' Pullout From Fishing Pact
(Bloomberg) -- The British government has found a new way to annoy five close European neighbors and it’s got everything to do with fish: By pulling out of a half-century old pact that gives them access to its waters.
A year after the U.K. voted to leave the European Union, the rules of fishing were going to change anyway but the decision to take it a step further and withdraw from 1964 London Fisheries Convention is a strike to France, Belgium, Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands.
Ireland found the move “unwelcome and unhelpful” as fishermen across the continent responded with alarm at a move that Britain says is necessary to regain control of all its waters after Brexit. But the step is seen as a provocation by Prime Minister Theresa May at an early stage in talks.
“Brexit poses very serious challenges to the seafood sector and this announcement will form part of the negotiations,” Irish Minister For Agriculture, Food and the Marine Michael Creed said in an emailed statement.
Brexit was already going to stop fishing by European boats within 12 to 200 nautical miles (22 to 370 kilometers) of British shores, but this terminates rights enjoyed by those five to fish in waters from 6 to 12 nautical miles.
“It’s an alarming signal,” Claus Ubl, spokesman for the German Fishery Association in Hamburg, said by phone on Monday. “The risk is that Britain will put up barriers to fishing in its territorial waters, its exclusive economic zones after Brexit.”
Pushing Hard
Among the companies threatened is Euro-Baltic, a fish processor based on the German island of Ruegen, which is part of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s parliamentary district, he said. German Agriculture Ministry spokeswoman Christina Wendt told reporters in Berlin that it is “important to protect German interests.”
Nederlandse Vissersbond, the Dutch industry group for professional fishermen, is “very concerned,” Chairman Johan Nooitgedagt told Dutch broadcaster NOS. “They are pushing ahead hard and are not moderating their approach.”
The U.K.’s notification will set in train a two-year pullout to be completed in July 2019, three months after the deadline for Britain’s EU withdrawal.
“The consequences for Dutch fishermen are very limited: we understand the sector does not or barely fishes in this part of the British waters,” the Dutch ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement.
That’s borne out in the figures: the five nations hauled some 10,000 tons of fish worth an estimated 17 million pounds ($22 million) within 12 nautical miles of the British coast in 2015, according to the U.K. government. That compares with the total value of the country’s fishing industry of 775 million pounds in 2015.
--With assistance from Isis Almeida Dara Doyle Tony Czuczka and Birgit Jennen
To contact the reporters on this story: Alex Morales in London at amorales2@bloomberg.net, Joost Akkermans in Amsterdam at jakkermans@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alan Crawford at acrawford6@bloomberg.net, Flavia Krause-Jackson