SofteningTheBlow

FISHERIESMarket access‘Then there’s the market access issue. We import lots of cod, butwe also sell high value catches like prawns, hake, lobster, crab,[and others], so we’d be very worried by any market barriersor increased barriers to trade.’After Brexit, selling fish to Europe might face mediantariffs of roughly 14 per cent if rates with the EU drop tothe World Trade Organisation’s ‘Most Favoured Nation’schedule – the worst they could be, as the UK wouldremain a WTO member. 7‘So the worst case scenario includes stock depletion plusdisrupted markets. In 1983 when the CFP started, it had takenfive whole years for the member states to come to agreement onquotas in the first place. You could imagine that again, beingvery disruptive for all parties. The mackerel situation shows howdifficult negotiations can be, and this would be for all waters andall species, so it’s a genuine fear.‘The phrase of the day is “It all depends”’ – mostly on ourgovernment’s conduct.SolutionsGroup managementThe NFFO clearly thinks we cannot manage our watersalone:“Most commercial, pelagic and demersal species needmanaging on a group basis - [shoals] don’t respect territorialwaters. 8 Reform has allowed more local cooperation [throughthe Regional Advisory Councils] but still Brussels has alot of control. We’d need a forum [to cooperate with theother states] in any case, which would be quite complex andfragmented [outside the CFP].· 29 ·