After tough negotiations, the EU and Great Britain agreed on catches for fish. Specifically, it is about how many tons of seafood from jointly managed stocks - including from the North Sea - can be brought ashore in 2022 without exacerbating overfishing. With a view to ecologically sensible limits, the environmental organization Oceana criticizes, for example, that certain catches are above the amounts recommended by scientists as sustainable. These included herring west of Scotland, whiting in the Irish Sea or cod in the Celtic Sea south of Ireland.
Fishing is often a heated and emotional discussion in Europe.
After Brexit, negotiations on catches in the EU had become all the more complicated.
As part of the withdrawal agreement, both parties agreed to hold annual talks in order to set quotas and catches for the following year.
On the EU side, these are managed by the EU Commission.
The size of the catch depends, among other things, on international obligations, scientific recommendations for ecologically acceptable catches and the economic situation of fishermen.
The EU countries still have to formally approve the agreement.
"The EU negotiators deserve respect"
The most relevant catches for Germany for 2022 had already been decided in negotiations between the EU and Norway and the United Kingdom. The German Fisheries Association praised the EU Commission on Wednesday: "The EU negotiators deserve respect that they got this far before the end of the year and that they could start fishing in January." Brexit will become more difficult. Now we are at least on the way to a new normal. This also means that the British negotiated “always tough and tricky”. Oceana also praised the fact that the agreement would offer stability for 2022 and welcomed it in principle.
British deep-sea fishermen have meanwhile expressed outrage over the quotas for 2022 negotiated in a fisheries agreement between their country and Norway. "We are more than disappointed with this result, we are totally devastated for our crews," said Jane Sandell, Managing Director of UK Fisheries, the operator of the UK's largest trawler "Kirkella". She described the quotas achieved by the British negotiators as "ridiculous". That is not enough for a profitable company.
The "Kirkella", which could supply British fish-and-chip shops single-handedly with ten percent of their needs, has been anchored in Kingston upon Hull in the north of England for around a year.
By leaving the EU, Great Britain lost the access to Norwegian waters negotiated via Brussels.
The "Kirkella" is dependent on it.
Now a better result must be achieved in negotiations with Greenland, warned Sandell.
After talks with Norway about mutual access to fishing waters initially failed, both sides presented an agreement on Tuesday.
The agreement offers "opportunities for the British fleet and ensures a strong balance that serves both the fishing industry and the protection of the marine environment," said British Secretary of State for Fisheries, Victoria Prentis.