MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Protecting UK (and Falklands) fisheries in a post Brexit scenario

Environment Secretary Michael Gove has anticipated EU fishing quotas referred to UK will be scrapped, and foreign fishing fleets chased from catching in UK waters

In the midst of the Brexit debate in the UK, and its expected consequences, Environment Secretary Michael Gove has anticipated EU fishing quotas referred to UK will be scrapped and if things go as planned by the cabinet member, French, Spanish, Danish and other nations fishing fleets will be chased form illegally fishing in UK waters.

 And allegedly this includes protecting the Falkland Islands fisheries, although the Islands have their own licensing system and fisheries protection vessels.

According to UK media reports under a new ship-building program, £350 million (some US$467 million) is being spent on five powerful fishery-protection vessels, one of which will be used in the Falklands. Another one of the boats, HMS ‘Forth,’ is currently undergoing sea trials before entering service in 2018, equipped with a 30mm gun, machine guns and a helicopter.

The boats could be backed up by long-range drones and satellite technology, which will detect any vessel straying into UK waters. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) will fund the surveillance of UK waters with a multi-million-pound contract under the Marine Management Organization.

“Leaving the EU means we will take back control of our waters. Access will be subject to negotiation, and will support a thriving future for our fishing sector,” said Defra. “We are reviewing all aspects of fishery management, including satellites, patrol vessels and aerial surveillance.”

The fisheries issue has caused extreme tensions between member states, and is likely to resurface during Brexit negotiations. Around one third of the EU’s stocks are fished from British waters, and heads of state are likely to push hard to get access to them. Danish, French and Spanish operators have said they will challenge any attempt to keep them out of UK waters.

Rumors of French-backed blockades are beginning to emerge over suggestions that Channel ports could be cut off for the British. South West Fish Producer Organization’s Jim Portus said the operation must be intelligence led.

He said: “Yes, there are risks of port blockades, especially by the French. They do it so often. But we already have technology like satellites, plus CCTV cameras on many vessels. There will be 1,000 UK fishing vessels just itching to report any illegal activity.”

Any rules designed for the post-Brexit period must be enforceable, or Britain risks being laughed at by Brussels, according to Admiral Lord West, a former first sea lord. He revealed in the House of Lords the Fishery Protection Squadron currently in place covers 80,000 square miles of territorial waters, usually with one of three old vessels.

The squadron boarded 278 fishing vessels in 2016-17, falling dramatically from 1,400 in 2011-12.

Last 31 August the Royal Navy site announced that the first of the navy's next-generation patrol ships is at sea as she sailed down the Clyde for the first time. HMS Forth leads a class of five state-of-the-art warships which will act as the RN's eyes and ears around the UK, help to safeguard fishing stocks, reassure and protect Falkland Islanders and deploy to the Mediterranean and Caribbean if necessary.

Designed for a crew of just under 60 (but needing only 38 crew at any one time to go to sea), the ship departed Scotstoun, where she's spent several months being fitted out. Contractors from builders BAE, experts from the military's support organization DE&S, the RN's equipment trials specialists MCTA and ship's company will guide Forth through her 'contractor sea trials' to see how she handles and how the equipment on board performs.

Although she's classed as a Batch 2 River-class offshore patrol vessel, Forth and her sisters - Trent, Medway, Tamar and Spey - are a big leap forward from Tyne, Severn, Mersey and Clyde, which were designed and built 15 years ago, points out the Royal Navy release.