Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is facing a backlash after he agreed to grant European trawlers access to British fishing waters for a further 12 years under his EU reset deal.
Among the agreements unveiled on Monday was a 12-year extension of fishing arrangements when the current deal ends next year, allowing European vessels to operate in UK waters under the same terms until 2038.
Critics said the length of the agreement made the UK into a “rule taker” from Brussels, while the Government said the deal provided long-term certainty for fishing fleets.
Sir Keir said the old deal would have meant year-on-year negotiations over fishing access and insisted fisheries would be better off under the deal, pointing particularly to the sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement with the bloc.
“We’ve reached a deal today on fish, protecting our access, rights and fishing areas with no increase in the amount that EU vessels can catch in British waters,” he told a press conference.
“Our fishing industry will also benefit from the new SPS agreement which slashes costs and red tape for our exports into the European market.
“And we already sell 70% of our seafood into that market, so it’s really significant.
“It is also opening the gates to sending shellfish back into the EU.”
The Prime Minister said a new £360 million fishing and coastal growth fund that will invest in new technology and equipment to modernise Britain’s fishing fleet would help fisheries to “take advantage of this deal”.
There will be no change to current access to fish for coastal communities and no reduction in the British quota or increase in the quota the EU is allowed to catch.
Scottish First Minister John Swinney said the Government has “surrendered” fishing in its deal, and that it shows Scotland is an “afterthought” in decision making.
The Scottish Fishermen’s Federation branded the UK-EU deal a “horror show” for the sector.
The Conservatives criticised the agreement, with party leader Kemi Badenoch saying it made the UK a “rule taker from Brussels once again”.
Shadow environment secretary Victoria Atkins said: “The Prime Minister has just sunk the United Kingdom fishing industry.”
Former prime minister Boris Johnson said it was a “total sell-out” of UK fisheries.
“A large part of Brexit was taking back control of our fantastic coastal waters. From January next year under the deal that we did, we were going to get back control of every single sprat, mackerel in UK water,” he told GB News.
Sir Keir had earlier said it was not the case that when the current deal expired there would have ceased to be EU fishing in UK waters, but rather that a new agreement would need to be made every year.
