On January 30th, Jim Evans (Chairman WFA) joined the NFFO and SFF at Westminister to campaign for a new fisheries agreement between the UK and EU to rebalance quota shares and follow the fisheries agreement model that exists between the Norway and EU, which:
At the event, NFFO Chief Executive, Barrie Deas, said:
“The level of support expressed for the fishing industry in Parliament yesterday was incredible and reflects a widespread determination to establish the UK as a genuine independent coastal state in act as well as in law.”
“The model to which we aspire is already in existence and has been in existence for 40 years. It is the current fisheries relationship between the EU Norway - another independent coastal state and third country.”
Barrie Deas added, “The key to the EU/Norway agreement lies in three important words: annual, balanced and reciprocal. It is an agreement which respects the regulatory autonomy of each party in their own respective exclusive economic zone and negotiates arrangements which are of mutual benefit. The annual cycle for the negotiations provides an agile and adaptive framework capable of dealing with the dynamic character of the stocks and the fishing industry itself. This is what we want for the UK”
Full press release can be found at: https://nffo.org.uk/news/incredible-level-of-support-across-parliament.html