Brexit deal done, but uncertainty remains for fishing
Boris Johnson says the UK's destiny is "back in our own hands"
Last updated 31st Dec 2020
Boris Johnson has called it the moment the UK takes its destiny "back into our own hands"- but not everyone shares his optimism for the new Brexit deal.
At 11pm on the 31st December, we'll stop following EU law and move onto these new trading terms.
But fisherman Darren Kenyon- who's been working in Grimsby since he was just 13 years old- isn't expecting Brexit to revive the town's economy.
"It's just dwindled and dwindled, I can't see it getting much better," Darren admits. "Until we're allowed to catch more fish it won't change. That's what it's all about."
Under the new trading terms, EU vessels will still have access to British waters for the next five-and-a-half-years.
But Jane Sandell, who's the CEO of UK Fisheries in Hessle, says we've missed an opportunity to secure access to foreign waters.
Earlier this month, UK Fisheries wrote to the Prime-Minister to ask him to guarantee continued access to distant waters.
Kirkella, the UK's leading trawler, has now been moored up in Hull until a deal with Norway can be struck.
"Jobs are at risk, but it also means people don't have money coming in" Jane said. "What's really heartbreaking is that in an area that's short of high quality jobs anyway, people have been left in limbo".
Speaking to MPs ahead of the deal being signed into law, Prime-Minister Boris Johnson admitted the fishing industry was facing a "tough" adjustment period.
Even the most hard-line Brexit supports in the Conservative Party say the deal "temporarily limits" sovereignty over British waters.
However, the European Research Group says the UK "will have the legal right to take full control of its waters'' and therefore the "question of practical sovereignty'' is "dependent on the preparedness and robustness of the UK Government's response at that time, which we are confident they will achieve''.
For East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire's fishing future- 2021 remains full of questions.