Meeting of the Parliament 17 May 2017
I totally agree.
That was game, set and match to Ms Leadsom, and it left Nicola Sturgeon looking desperate, misleading and downright wrong. The way forward is clear. As an independent country out of the EU, the UK, under international law passed in 1982 and backed by a United Nations convention, can take control of its waters out to 200 miles. Now, that does not mean that foreign boats will never fish our waters again. However, it means that they will fish under our rules and regulations, and that we will be in control—and that is a huge prize.
That is the sea of opportunity that our fishermen welcome. It will address the unjust situation that exists at the moment, whereby 60 per cent of the fish that are caught in UK waters are caught by foreign vessels. Some 650,000 tonnes of fish, worth £400 million, are caught by EU boats in our waters every year. In comparison, our boats catch only 90,000 tonnes of fish in other EU waters, worth a mere £100 million. To put it another way, between 2012 and 2014, EU boats caught half the demersal fish, two thirds of the pelagic fish and almost all the industrial fish that were caught in our 200-mile exclusive zone. No one can argue that that is a fair division.
The other strand of the disaster story that the SNP tries to spin is that we will lose the EU markets for our fish. We have heard it already. Yes, the EU market is important, and we obviously want to keep it. However, I have spoken to numerous fish processors in Peterhead and Fraserburgh who are very relaxed about keeping their markets. They argue, quite rightly, that their fish are in great demand in Europe—indeed, buyers are queueing up to get the top-quality fish that we supply, which is often unavailable elsewhere.
It is also a fact that our stance in the Brexit negotiations is to get a comprehensive free trade deal. Why should we not get a free trade deal, given that such a deal is as much to the Europeans’ benefit as it is to ours?
Iceland applied to join the EU in 2009 but withdrew its application in 2015, mainly because it would have had to join the CFP and it did not like what it saw. In June 2016, just a year ago, the Icelandic fisheries minister said:
“I would never join the European Union ... There is a life outside it, as we have proven. We have one of the biggest and one of the strongest fisheries in the world that is sustainable without any subsidies from the state. We don’t have to share this decision-making with anyone else. It would be difficult for Icelanders to control their economic and fisheries sector having the obligation to discuss it with 27 or 28 other countries.”
That is the kind of future that awaits our fishing industry when we leave the outdated, bureaucratic and unreformable European common fisheries policy. I, for one, welcome that future. [Interruption.]
I move,
That the Parliament believes that the Scottish fishing industry is vital to Scotland’s culture and economy, and is a bedrock of many communities across the country; recognises the opportunity that leaving the EU offers to create a fit-for-purpose and tailor-made fisheries management regime that better suits the needs of Scottish fishing; acknowledges the potential to restore control of access to UK waters, enabling a fairer distribution of fishing opportunities in the future, and believes that Scotland must not return to the common fisheries policy.