Last week, fish and seafood exporters protested in London against the ​‘Brexit trade deal’. While a no-deal would have been the final nail in the coffin for the struggling industry, this trade agreement, does not live up to the expectations of UK fishers.

The New Economics Foundation has shown that not all fishers are in the same boat, with a large part of the fleet at risk due to a reliance on shellfish exports to the EU and a small group of quota-owners with large potential gains from Brexit. As it stands, out of the potential winners and losers of Brexit, no one actually wins. Exporters and inshore fishers in particular are bearing the brunt whilst also leaving the biggest UK fish market looking like a ghost town.

There is an increase in the UK quota share over the next five and a half years, but most of the gains are for a small number stocks and will only benefit certain parts of the fishing industry. Even these quota gains are marginal and nowhere near the promises made pre referendum, something all fishing organisations now seem to agree on.

Despite Dominic Raab’s denial that these seafood businesses are facing collapse because of Brexit, Boris Johnson is willing to pay compensation, to the tune of £23 million – perhaps an admission that the sector has been handed a very raw deal. A key problem now for the UK is that the aspirations of the Fisheries White Paper, and the Fisheries Act were dependant on a more favourable, but clearly undeliverable Brexit deal. Going forward, there are a few key opportunities for government to support the sector.

A just transition in UK fisheries, focussed on moving the industry towards better working conditions, more value captured for the small-scale producers and lowering the environmental impacts across the fleet, is now the only light on the horizon.

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