Overfishing warning despite quotas boost for UK at EU negotiations

The Government has claimed a boost for British fishermen with an increase in quotas for key stocks including cod and haddock in annual negotiations in Brussels.

Ministers secured higher quotas for North Sea cod, haddock and monkfish, Irish Sea cod and haddock, Eastern Channel sole, skates and rays and Bristol Channel plaice and sole, as efforts to ensure sustainable fishing have boosted stocks.

But environmentalists have warned that many stocks in EU waters are still not being fished at sustainable levels.

And while they welcomed the increases secured in the annual talks to allocate the share of fish that can be caught by boats in EU waters, fishermen cautioned against European countries taking “entrenched” positions ahead of Brexit.

After the UK quits the EU it would reclaim exclusive control over fishing in British waters and would be able to offer access on its own terms in future negotiations, the Scottish Fishermen's Federation (SFF) said.

The Government said challenges remained in areas such as the Celtic Sea, where scientific evidence showed further restraint was needed to revive stocks of haddock and megrim, and to protect species such as sea bass.

Following the negotiations in Brussels, Fisheries Minister George Eustice said: “The UK has long championed sustainable fishing and that is starting to yield results in some areas, with a recovery in key stocks and increased quota as a result.

“Challenges remain in areas like the Celtic Sea and on iconic species such as bass so further restrictions have been needed.

“As we prepare to leave the EU, we will place science-based fisheries management at the heart of future policy.”

SFF chief executive Bertie Armstrong said: “There are fewer than 500 days until the UK leaves the European Union, and, while we are broadly satisfied by the outcome of the December Fisheries Council, there are strong signs that countries both with and without fishing interests are adopting very entrenched views.”

After Brexit, control over the UK's exclusive economic zone would revert to the UK governments, which will allow the UK to decide gets to catch what, where and when, and will be able to negotiate access for other countries on its own terms, he said.

“Taking a hardline stance will not help as we move to the situation where international negotiations with the UK as a coastal state determine outcomes.

“It is also in stark contrast to the reasonable and responsible approach taken by the UK industry.”

Environmental legal charity ClientEarth said that despite legal requirements in the EU's Common Fisheries Policy for fishing to be sustainable by 2020 at the latest, catch limits for many fish stocks were still being set too high.

They criticised catch limits for whiting, sole, herring and plaice in and around the Irish Sea, some of which are stocks that are “dangerously depleted” and where the scientific advice recommends zero catches.

ClientEarth lawyer Flaminia Tacconi said: “The 2018 fishing quotas mean overfishing continues for many stocks, including several vulnerable ones like whiting off the coast of Scotland and Ireland.

“Ministers must be more ambitious to make fishing in EU waters sustainable."