Dutch fishery fears loss because of Brexit

Dutch fishermen largely dependent on fish catches in British waters fear Brexit would be an opportunity for British and Scottish fishermen to claim back their waters, what would be an economic disaster for the Dutch fishing industry, Dutch press reported.

"British water is vital for our fleet," writes Pim Visser, president of the Dutch fishery sector's interest group VisNed, to VisNed members. "A very big concern is that the fishing industry will ultimately have to pay the price in the Brexit debate."

"The fishing industry on the Dutch island of Texel for example is 90 percent dependent on British waters, and also in small places with fishery communities such as Stellendam and Urk it will be felt enormously. If it goes wrong, it will have a huge impact," Visser told Dutch news radio BNR on Tuesday.

A British report released last week said that between 2012 and 2014, 58 percent of fish caught in British waters was caught by foreign vessels. The interests of the Dutch sea fishery in that area are very big: herring, mackerel, plaice and sole are mainly caught in waters around Britain.

Under the European Union's common fisheries policy, fishermen from the member states have access to each other's waters, the so-called 200-mile zone, provided they have quotas. Now British fishermen take the position they have the exclusive right to fish in their Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) as defined by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which states that countries have the exclusive right to fish in a zone of 200 nautical miles.

The question whether or not Dutch and other European fishermen may still throw out their nets in British waters will be central during negotiations between senior European and British officials in the coming years.

"The only sensible route to avoid this negative scenario is to emphasize during negotiations that the British fishing industry really needs the EU market to sell their fish and that the arguing over the more than 100 shared fish stocks will eventually lead to poor management of fishery and thus result in a loss for all fishermen," Gerard van Balsfoort said to Dutch daily De Telegraaf on behalf of the Dutch herring and mackerel fisheries industry.

The Dutch parliament is concerned about the impact of the upcoming Brexit on Dutch fishermen. Opposition party CDA (Christian Democrats) has asked the government to go to London as soon as possible to communicate the Dutch interests. The liberal VVD, one of the parties of the current coalition government, has demanded more initiative from the ministry of economic affairs. Endit