ON the 1st of January next year we regain control of our fishing waters, and not before time.
EU policy resulted in the devastation of our fleet, with those that survived ending up with a ridiculously small share of the quota.
Predictably, the EU is still demanding that the common fisheries policy continues unchanged.
Well, it won’t, and from 2021, our fishing waters will be ours to use as we please, which will include allowing our stocks to recuperate after years of over exploitation by continental industrial trawlers.
Future allocations of quotas for foreign states will be our decision alone.
It will be a big – and welcome – change for our fishermen.
It will also require some new thinking on rebuilding our fish stocks, reviving our fishing industry and distributing more fish to our domestic market.
It will take time, but in a welcome development fishermen have already taken the last point into their own hands.
To compensate for the current collapse in restaurant trade, they have formed cooperatives along the coastline, selling fish directly from boats via local distributors, and on to local hubs or homes.
They will be helped by a new, government scheme supporting the supply of local seafood, which includes funds for local fish processing and shared assets like port storage and refrigerated vans.
It’s a hugely positive reaction to the current crisis, and an optimistic sign for the future.
To safeguard the UK from EU belligerence, not least on fishing, a welcome addition to the EU Withdrawal Bill actually requires Parliament to debate and vote against any measures which detract from our newfound sovereignty.
This issue is totemic, and rightly so.
With our fisheries coveted by many, it’s time to rebuild one of our finest, traditional industries.