display
London (AP) - British fishermen feel betrayed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Brexit deal.
"Boris Johnson promised us the rights to all the fish swimming in our exclusive economic zone, but we only received a fraction of it," said the head of the National Association of Fisheries Organizations (NFFO), Andrew Locker, on BBC Radio 4 am Monday.
"I am angry, disappointed and feel betrayed."
Johnson had promised that no fisherman would be worse off.
But now there are "a considerable number" who are far worse off than before the deal.
When the UK was still a member of the EU, fishermen could have traded with the community.
“We traded things that we didn't need for fish that they didn't need.
And that enabled us to come up with an annual plan, ”Locker said.
Now the British fishermen would have to fight hard to keep their livelihoods.
Minister of State Michael Gove disagreed.
display
Britain will be in a much stronger position than the EU, Gove told the broadcaster.
Under the EU's common fisheries policy, British fishermen would only have access to 50 percent of the fish in British waters.
That number will now rise to two thirds by 2026, said Gove.
The country will invest in the fleet and infrastructure and can further increase its share.
From an economic point of view, fishing plays only a minor role, but it was symbolically heavily charged by Great Britain and France on the EU side and was one of the most difficult points in the negotiations on the Brexit trade pact.
Ultimately, London made big concessions.
European fishermen initially only have to forego a quarter of their catch quotas - over a period of five and a half years.
Should London later restrict their access further, Brussels could respond with tariffs.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 201228-99-830015 / 2