Fishing Quota Negotiations: Impact on UK Fleet

Debate between Jim Shannon and Melanie Onn

Wednesday 26th March 2025 Westminster Hall

[Melanie Onn (Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Vickers. I congratulate the hon. Member for St Ives (Andrew George) on securing this important debate at a critical time in the EU negotiations. I had not intended to make a speech—I was just going to intervene—but I heard him lamenting the interventions.

I will focus on a couple of points. The first is about science, and the second is about the EU negotiations. My constituency of Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes has a long-standing, proud fishing heritage. It had the largest fishing port in the world at its height, although things have moved on significantly since those days; what we have left is a single company that operates a fleet that largely fishes out of Peterhead, where the majority of the fish are at the moment. We have a significant fish-processing sector that employs around 6,000 people. The scope of the fisheries sector extends far beyond catching, and that is worth remembering in this debate: the number of jobs in the entirety of the sector is important all around the coast of this nation.

I was struck by the comments made by the hon. Member for St Ives about the differences in expectations between supertrawlers and individual fishers. We talk about the fishing industry as if it is one industry rather than a collection of individuals, some of whom are self-employed or run small or microbusinesses. It is worth considering that there are differentials in size, scope and range of capacity between the businesses that operate around the country, as there are in other sectors, where there are large businesses as well as small and medium-sized enterprises. That may well assist with some of the issues the hon. Gentleman raised.

What struck me from the speeches of the hon. Member for St Ives and the hon. Member for Gordon and Buchan (Harriet Cross) is that we talk about relying on science to drive our fisheries and to give us the scope of the TAC, but the science is often too slow. It does not meet the needs of fishers, who are looking not only for what they are going to be catching today, but, hopefully, for what they will be catching in six months or a year’s time. Although things have improved, there is still room to improve and speed up the flow of information from the scientific community to inform the fisheries community, to ensure that it is properly reflected in the amount and the species that fisherman are allowed to catch.

It is not new that fishing is used as a negotiating tactic, particularly when it comes to defence. It was critical in the establishment of NATO, much to Grimsby’s misfortune in the 1970s. The agreement with Iceland that started the cod wars of the 1970s was purely down to the negotiations around the establishment of NATO and the United States having a base in Iceland. That impinged on the area in which Grimsby trawlers could go out and catch. This is not new, then, and it poses an inherent danger when the desire for safety and security in our nation is potentially weighed against livelihoods and an industry.

When it comes to defence in these very insecure times internationally, we should be aware of the likelihood of the EU’s expectations, and we should go into things completely open-eyed but unafraid to defend what remains of our fishing sector, to give it the hope it needs to sustain and grow. It is important that we do not serve up too much politics in that effort. The conversations since we left the EU, with many years of the Conservative party wrangling over the issue of Europe, have been unhelpful when it comes to the practical manner EU member states tend to undertake their negotiations. It is important to have a level head and maintain a practical and clear-eyed perspective on the negotiations. Despite the noise we hear from EU member states, we must remember that it is a negotiation, so people will raise flags about the issues important to them.

When it comes to exports to the EU, there is an opportunity for UK fisheries in much of what we catch and farm. With their slightly non-white-fish palates, EU member states will want much of the crayfish and speciality fish that do not tend to get eaten in this country. There is plenty of opportunity and not as much to fear as we have heard this morning. I wish the Minister and his colleagues all the best in the course of the negotiations, and remind him not be afraid to stand up for UK fisheries, whether in Scotland or Cornwall—

[Jim Shannon]

And Northern Ireland!

[Melanie Onn]

And Northern Ireland. I apologise to the hon. Gentleman—how could I be so remiss as to forget Northern Ireland the day after his birthday?

I remind the Minister to celebrate the UK fishing industry, to stand firm and to promote the opportunities that come from the great-quality products we have in the UK, which I know members of the EU community want. We have quite a lot of strength in our fishing arsenal.

Future of Fishing

Debate between Jim Shannon and Melanie Onn

Tuesday 5th November 2024 Westminster Hall

[Jim Shannon]

I think it is better if it comes from Parliament but, if there is an obstruction here to bringing it forward, then yes. I hope the Minister will come back to us positively. If it can happen within regional Administrations that is something to consider, but I am very conscious of Parliament’s prominence and pre-eminence on such decisions. I would not wish to do anything that would change that position, if possible.

A further issue that needs to be looked at is an apparent attempt by the Irish Government—I am not against the Irish Government, but I must make quite clear that I am a Member of this great Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as is everyone in this room, so we understand the issues—are trying to gerrymander what counts as Irish and what counts as UK herring quota. My local fishing industry has highlighted that they have produced some extremely limited science, which the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute claims is full of holes, to support their overtures to the EU and the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. That is quite simply a transparent attempt at a smash and grab to try to recoup what they have lost through Brexit. We feel it is important to get the issue on record. My Minister and my Government in this House need to support the UK fishing fleet against that blatant EU interference.

The shock of Brexit is still felt in some EU fishing quarters. One way that has manifested is in increasingly desperate attempts by EU nations to secure UK quota through the back door. Our fishermen need that quota; we do not need to give it to anybody else. We should look after our own at home first. After having success claiming UK citizens—as the EU has also done—for their football team on the strength of very tenuous genetic links, they are now applying the same strategy to claiming herring quota. My goodness—at what limits will they stop?

I say this gently, respectfully and positively: I would appreciate if the Minister would confirm his Department is alive to EU nations using weak, inaccurate and biased science as a means to circumvent honest negotiation. Can the Minister offer reassurance to the people of Northern Ireland in the fishing sector, who work in the herring boats and processing factories, that he is not going to let other EU countries walk off with their quotas and jobs? What steps will be taken to support our industry?

For too many years the EU fishing industry made their living off our waters and our fish, while we were hampered at every turn. They now seek to abuse regulations further to dip in our pond. That must be acknowledged and dealt with. The hon. Member for Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes is right that we need to negotiate—I understand that—but they also need to realise that this is our fish, these are our jobs and, with that in mind, negotiation has to be handled respectfully. I am respectful to the Minister because he is a decent, honest man, who does a good job. At the same time, I put forward my views in a way that, I hope, he can respect.

[Melanie Onn]

Does the hon. Gentleman think it is easier or harder to undertake those negotiations now that we have left the EU?

[Jim Shannon]

I think as I do with the Irish Government: they are our neighbours, and we have to have economic contact with them. They will not be getting Northern Ireland as part of their great united Ireland, which is their constitutional position; we oppose that, but that does not mean we cannot have working relationships with neighbours. The hon. Lady made a positive and helpful intervention, but we need to start from the level that says, “What we have is ours, and what we have we hold for our fishermen and fisherwomen.” That being the case, the best thing for us to do now is to secure our food and industry and act accordingly for the benefit of everyone throughout this United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. That is what we should be doing.