Brexit outcome ‘much better than had been anticipated’
THE BREXIT deal between the UK and the EU has been largely met with relief from Guernsey fishermen, especially because tariffs for landing and exporting into France have been avoided.
Barry Paint, the president of the Guernsey Fishermen’s Association, said the outcome was much better than had been anticipated.
‘I think we’ve done quite well out of it. There’s going to be a few problems but I think with goodwill coming from all sides it will serve us well for the next few years.
‘Let’s hope that people can work together and resolve the problems, which will no doubt come, amicably.
‘If there had been no deal the fishing industry would have suffered a lot more from it, so we’ve avoided that well.
‘There’s a couple of fishermen that would have liked to have seen other things done, but those things are in process now and being looked at by the politicians.’
The headline measures from the Brexit document for the Bailiwick fishing fleet are that their rights to operate in the French exclusive economic zones have been preserved, there will be no additional licensing burden, no tariffs, and landing access to France and the UK has been maintained.
French vessels will be able to fish in Guernsey’s six to twelve nautical mile zone, but there will be greater controls on them because they will have to be on a list provided by the French authorities.
This is regarded as a significant improvement, because under the old London Fisheries Convention thousands of French boats could have accessed Bailiwick territorial waters.
Fishing became one of the sticking points in the run-up to the deal, and Mr Paint said it was worth fighting for.
‘It’s cultural and it’s earning a lot of people a living.
‘I think there’s about 138 licensed boats fishing out of Guernsey at the moment, and I include Sark and Alderney with that.
‘Although it’s only small, there was £5m. worth of fish exported from Guernsey in 2016. I don’t know what it is since then, and that £5m. gets distributed amongst fuel suppliers, engine room repairers, boat repairers, so it goes around our economy.
‘Things are hard enough in fishing now. It’s not everybody that can make a living out of it. In fact some of the smaller boats haven’t made a living this year at all because exports have been non-existent or minimal, and the local sale is just not big enough for the amount of fish that is being caught.’
Around 80% of Guernsey fish caught gets exported abroad, while supermarkets on the island sell fish caught off far-flung places such as South America.
The island’s Economic Development Committee is now looking at ways it can champion the fishing industry, such as establishing a fishing co-operative and marine apprenticeships possibly through the Guernsey Institute.
A policy paper is being put together to try to stop the unlicensed local sale of fish.
Mr Paint said investment was vital to allow the sector to flourish.
‘There has to be government investment because the fish quay is no longer very good, it’s starting to fall apart, so there’s going to have to be something spent there, but that’s the harbour as a whole as well, it’s not just the fish quay, the harbour is in a bit of state at the moment.’
