Saving Seafood

Squid games: The next Brexit battleground

November 12, 2024 — Partial to a serving of lemon-drizzled fried calamari rings while kicking back in a Mediterranean seaside bar? They’re about to be served with a hefty dollop of politics.

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing pressure to win concessions from the European Union over hefty post-Brexit trading tariffs placed on squid and other food items entering the continent from the Falkland Islands.

Behind the scenes, the British overseas territory has been furiously lobbying the new U.K. Labour government to ensure trade barriers on squid imports are included in upcoming “reset” talks with Brussels.

Starmer has promised to do “everything we can” to reduce trade tariffs, while describing the relationship with the Falklands as “personal” (his uncle had a brush with death during the 1982 war with Argentina over the territory.)

But politicians and officials in the Falklands administration are concerned they could be overlooked if Brussels uses the islands’ demands as a bargaining chip to win concessions in other areas British voters may find unpalatable.

After all, the Falkland Islands (population: 3,662) are nearly 8,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean from Britain and of fading importance to many in the U.K.

Read the full article at Politico

Four years on, Brexit continues to undermine segments of UK seafood industry

February 10, 2024 — Supporters of the U.K.’s departure from the E.U. four years ago promised the dawn of a golden era for the fishing and seafood industry. Those operating in the sector hoped the move would offer more control over volumes caught and the people catching in U.K. waters, subsequently presenting more opportunities for growth, particularly in coastal communities.

For those attempting to navigate the unique challenges Brexit has wrought on the U.K.’s seafood supply chain, that optimism has faded for many in the country’s seafood sector. Many continue to lament red tape complicating the export of many types of seafood to key overseas markets. If products do make it to Europe, they often incur significant additional costs. Brexit has also limited the number of foreign workers available for hire by U.K. processors, leaving them struggling to find sufficient numbers of employees to operate in a cost-effective manner.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

UK adopts fisheries management plans to maximize post-Brexit opportunities

July 24, 2023 — The U.K. government has announced a new package of measures aimed at alleviating the struggles the country’s fishing industry has faced post-Brexit.

According to the U.K. Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra), the latest reforms – unveiled on 17 July, 2023 – will enable the industry to seize on opportunities from existing outside of the European Union. It said measures will involve the introduction of a “world-class system of fisheries management” that draws on the best available science and the expertise of U.K. fishers to ensure fish stocks remain healthy and sustainable.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Brexit case for UK seafood industry was overstated, APPG study finds

November 8, 2022 — U.K fishermen were promised the results of Brexit and leaving behind the European Union’s common fisheries policy would enable the country to regain control of its waters. A fisheries white paper also guaranteed a historic opportunity to do things better.

However, a report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group titled “Brexit: Voices of the U.K. Fishing Industry” shows the rhetoric turned out to lack substance. In reality, Brexit left the fishing industry and the wider seafood sector crying foul in the wake of unexpected and unwelcome detrimental impacts on livelihoods, business turnover, labor, exports, and access to fishing areas and quota. Report contributors expressed fears for the long-term viability of individual businesses, fishing fleets, processors, and transporters, following significant and ongoing financial losses.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Scotland’s seafood industry fears a return to border chaos

May 19, 2022 — The U.K. government’s intention to introduce new legislation that makes swift changes to the post-Brexit rules surrounding the checking of goods at the Irish border has drawn fire from Scotland’s seafood industry, particularly the farmed salmon sector.

U.K. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss told the House of Commons on 17 May that the Northern Ireland Protocol, introduced in 2021, had caused unforeseen problems, including “unnecessary bureaucracy” for goods moving between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Truss said that a proposed Northern Ireland Protocol Bill would mean that British goods destined for sale in Northern Ireland would only have to meet U.K. standards, and not those of the European Union. She said that while the government’s preference is to reach a negotiated outcome with the E.U. and that months of talks had already taken place, the urgency of the situation meant that the government would be prepared to act without reaching such an agreement.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

UK, EU settle row over fishing licenses

December 13, 2021 — Weeks of negotiations aimed at settling a dispute over post-Brexit fishing licenses have ended with the United Kingdom issuing 18 licenses for European Union replacement vessels in U.K. territorial waters and five licenses for E.U. vessels to access Jersey waters, the European Commission has confirmed.

French vessels have performed a series of protests, including a blockade of the British island of Jersey, arguing they were not issued a sufficient number of permits to cover all the fishing vessels that historically fished in U.K. waters before Brexit.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

British and French talks to settle fishing row end in stalemate

November 5, 2021 — Talks between the British and French governments to settle a post-Brexit fishing row have ended in stalemate as No 10 said it did not believe Paris would follow through on threats to slow down trade.

The Brexit minister, David Frost, spent about 90 minutes meeting France’s Europe minister, Clément Beaune, in Paris on Thursday, but despite smiles for the cameras the two sides remained far apart.

Boris Johnson’s spokesperson said: “We don’t believe the French are planning to move forward with the previous threats they’ve made.” Beaune, however, said France wanted to give dialogue a chance, but “the option for retaliatory measures remains open”.

France and Britain are at odds over the rights of French fishers in the six to 12-mile zone around the UK shore, and Jersey and Guernsey. The dispute threatened to tip into a full-blown trade war until the French president, Emmanuel Macron, called for more talks on Monday, holding back on a threat to slow down British imports coming into France.

Read the full story at The Guardian

 

France offers reprieve in post-Brexit fishing fight with UK

November 2, 2021 — France’s president offered Britain extra time for negotiations on Monday to try to reach a compromise on a troubling post-Brexit fishing spat, hours ahead of a threatened French blockade of British ships and trucks.

France has threatened to bar British boats from some of its ports and tighten checks on boats and trucks carrying British goods if more French vessels aren’t licensed to fish in U.K. waters by Tuesday. Paris has also suggested it might restrict energy supplies to the Channel Islands, which are heavily dependent on French electricity.

The French government had said the port blockade would begin at midnight Monday if no compromise was found. But late in the day, French President Emmanuel Macron’s office said talks would continue this week and no measures would be taken until at least through Thursday.

Speaking to reporters Monday in Glasgow, Scotland, where he is attending an international climate conference, Macron said the discussions center on a proposal he made to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson after they met at the G-20 meeting in Rome on Sunday.

Read the full story at the Associated Press

 

UK-France tensions escalate over post-Brexit fishing rights

November 2, 2021 — Tensions have flared again in an ongoing dispute between France and the United Kingdom over post-Brexit fishing rights.

On Monday, 1 November, French President Emmanuel Macron postponed trade sanctions that would have blocked British fishermen from French ports beginning on 2 November, to allow negotiators from both sides to work on new proposals to defuse the dispute. Macron also delayed the implementation of a “go slow” order at border checks for incoming shipments from the U.K., and temporarily backed off threats to cut energy supplies to the Channel Island of Jersey, which is controlled by the U.K. Macron said he called for the delay in order to allow negotiators from both sides to work on new proposals to defuse the dispute.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

France to Announce Sanctions Amid Fishing Dispute With UK

October 21, 2021 — France will announce potential sanctions over energy prices and trade “by the end of the week” in its fishing dispute with the United Kingdom, the government spokesman said Wednesday.

France vehemently protested the decision last month by the U.K. and the Channel Island of Jersey to refuse dozens of French fishing boats a license to operate in their territorial waters. Paris called the move “unacceptable.”

France considers the restrictions as contrary to the post-Brexit agreement that the British government signed when it left the European Union.

“We are obviously in a position to take sanctions if the agreement is not respected,” French government spokesperson Gabriel Attal said. “There are several types of sanctions that are possible: energy prices, access to (French) ports, tariffs issues.”

Read the full story from the Associated Press at U.S. News