Take half an hour for an insight into the fishing industry in the NE of Scotland in Episode 3 of the BBC fishing documentary FishTown!
Catch it on BBC Scotland – 1930 – Mondays
This Episode shows that there is a nucleus of young, keen fishermen who can be the base from which Britain’s industry can be rebuilt after being ravaged by the EUs Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).
It shows the huge investment that goes into the industry and the huge level of shore jobs this supports in ancillary industries needed to support the vessels at sea.
This is the industry, way of life and heritage we are campaigning for.
To take back control of all out water and resources and rejuvenate our fishing to be a sustainable, multi-billion pound industry – a world leader equal to Norway.
Our government MUST NOT trade away fishing a 2nd time by surrendering our greatest natural resource to hollow EU threats on trade in goods and financial services for continued exploitationary access to British waters.
The UK contributes 50% of the waters and 60% of the catches to the common EU pot but only receives 25% of the quotas.
British seafood is some of the finest and most in demand in the world – EU markets have high dependency on our seafood and will continue to post-Brexit.
The government must take back FULL control of ALL our waters and resources and use this freedom to implement bespoke British policy to husband our great resource as a national asset that can inject huge prosperity to rural coastal communities for generations to come.
Any future deals on fishing must be on a STRICTLY annual basis and ONLY when the UK receives a reciprocal value of fishing opportunities in return.
If the above happens we will be a normal, independent coastal state – the equal of Norway, Iceland and Faroe, with a multi-billion pound industry exporting high quality sustainable seafood globally.
Government must have the guts to stand firm that they won’t sell out fishing for a trade deal. Something Boris Johnson said would be a “reprehensible” thing to do.
With British policy that – ends the cause of discards; tackles EU owned but UK registered Flagships; repatriates our resources; and ends shore based quota renting “Slipper Skippers”, then we will see a rejuvenation to Peterhead, Fraserburgh, Macduff, Banff, Buckie (and all the communities in between) to the boom towns they once were.