Aquaculture for all

British fishermen back Brexit to the hilt

Sustainability Economics Politics +4 more

The UK fishing industry is challenging candidates in the General Election to pledge their support for restoring national control of UK waters.

Fishermen’s leaders insist that exiting the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is the only way of ending the “farcical” situation under which the country is forced to give away almost two-thirds of the fish from some of the richest fishing grounds in the world.

Candidates in all 650 parliamentary constituencies will be invited to sign the pledge prior to the election on June 8th.

Bertie Armstrong, chief executive of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation, said: “The whole industry, from those who go to sea through the processors to the hauliers, is united behind one simple aim – our coming out of the EU and the CFP.

“Brexit offers us a huge opportunity to re-assert control of our waters and to establish once and for all a sensible, practicable new fisheries management regime.

“We as an industry have repeatedly stated that we will work with the UK and Scottish governments to achieve this, and we hope that candidates will support the prospect of jobs and security for our beleaguered coastal communities by signing this pledge.”

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