Friday 4 September 2020

Fish Quota yet again!

I haven't written about fishing quota for a while, because basically nothing has been happening regarding the political hot potato of fishing rights after 31 December 2020.

The last round ended with the continuing failure of the UK negotiator "Lord" Frost to disclose the terms that he wishes to secure. Monsieur Barnier ended the round by pointing out that while the UK would have sovereignty over a section of the seabed, this would not confer ownership of the fish swimming through the water column above it. He is absolutely correct in terms of law, domestic Scots, English or, for that matter, French law or International law. Wild fish, fera natura, belong to nobody until they're caught.
I have repeatedly stated before that successive UK Governments, in pursuit of neo-liberal agendas, have allowed both the sale of fishing quota to non-nationals and the ownership of fishing vessels by non UK owners, often corporations whose owners are in turn based outside the UK or the EU, frequently in tax havens. Long ago the position was reached in terms of which it cost more to buy quota than to buy the boat to catch it. Quota is also used as security for the loans taken out to buy it, or indeed to buy the vessel.
This means that quota is private property and entitled to protection under the ECHR, with no dispossession without compensation.
So, where does this all end up if, as seems likely, 31 December passes with no deal? The existing fishers will want to fish in the existing vessels, using the existing quota and selling to the existing markets. My guess is that they will simply do so and that it will be foolish in the extreme for the UK Government, whoever is in charge, to try to stop that. The large Scottish and English vessels that catch quota stocks may need to land their catches in mainland EU, so it won't exactly be business as usual on the UK side. Many of these owners, in contrast to much of the non-quota fleet, were great cheerleaders for Brexit. It's very likely that they knew their stuff!

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