More fishing opportunities for the Scottish industry before the Brexit deadline

January 02, 2018

The Scottish fishing industry is awaiting the outcome of the Brexit negotiation as the March 2019 deadline draws closer. Despite all the uncertainty surrounding Brexit and the future fishing arrangements in UK waters the outlook for 2018 is a bit brighter for the Scottish industry as the results of the annual negotiations in Brussels provide additional opportunties. The additional fishing opportunties are valued at GBP 440 million. The overall package includes strong increases of 38% for North Sea whiting, 20% for monkfish, 22% for North Sea Norway lobster and 26% for west of Scotland haddock.

The overall GBP440 million package also includes outcomes from the Coastal States, EU/Norway and EU/Faroe negotiations.

On the negotiations the Rural Economy Secretary Fergus Ewing stated: "Brexit has loomed large over this year’s negotiations. Now that these deals have been confirmed we will continue to seek real assurances from the UK Government that they will not trade access to Scottish waters away to secure other interests in the Brexit negotiations. We cannot and will not accept Scottish fishing interests being put at risk.”

The future fisheries management system in UK waters will without doubts affect companies and their economic performance. Not only will the companies in the UK be affected but also those companies outside the UK that have relied on fishing in the UK waters.

The Seafood Intelligence team will continue to follow these negotiations on markofish.com. For further information contact us at info@markofish.com.