The Prime Minister owes an explanation to the fishermen he insulted and patronised by describing the UK-EU trade deal as good for the industry, according to the leader of the UK’s largest fisheries organisation.
In a letter to Sir Keir Starmer Elspeth Macdonald, chief executive of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation (SFF), said should do the decent thing and meet skippers and crew to hear first-hand what the industry needs to thrive.
The deal gave EU vessels 12 years of access to UK waters, which they rely heavily on to fish their quotas, removing at a stroke the key bargaining chip in annual negotiations over those quotas.
The UK Government tried to sweeten the blow with a £360 million fishing and coastal growth fund over the same period – a figure that pales in comparison with the £6 billion worth of fish that the EU will take from UK waters in that time.
Ms Macdonald said: “It was both insulting and patronising to hear you and your Ministers tell us this was a good deal for fishing, because Scottish farmed salmon might, if the EU decides to play ball, be exported without the need for Export Health Certificates at some undetermined point in the future.
“If your government had bothered to understand anything about the fishing industry you would know that farmed salmon and wild capture fisheries are completely separate industries.
“You also told us, again patronisingly, that we should welcome the stability of a twelve-year agreement on access. That you know what’s best for us. Yet we have spent months telling your Ministers that stability in terms of access to waters is the worst possible position for the UK.
“It was the instability of the EU’s access to UK waters from 2026 that was our trump card, and you have not only thrown it away, but ripped it up into tiny pieces before doing so.
“Your reaction also showed a lack of understanding of the 2020 agreement and how international fisheries agreements work, as well as a misplaced lack of faith – that we don’t share – in your negotiating teams to deliver better quota shares for the UK through annual negotiations.”
On the coastal and growth fund, Ms Macdonald observed that Sir Keir’s mandate only runs until 2029.
“As no future government is obliged to meet commitments made by a previous one, you can in essence, only commit to three years of funding – some £90 million.
“Contrast this to the £450-500 million value of the fish that the EU will take from our waters for the next twelve years – £6 billion, not accounting for inflation or value added – and what little sugar coating you felt there might be in your funding package to sweeten the very bitter pill swiftly vanishes.”
