14 May 2025
A Brexit trade deal means EU boats can fish in UK waters, but only until June 2026. The British fishing industry has long felt betrayed by post-Brexit promises and now fears rights are going to be given away again.
Karl Price prepares lobster traps off the coast in Bridlington
Every year more than three hundred tonnes of crustaceans are landed in Bridlington, earning its nickname as the ‘lobster capital of Europe’.
And Europe is able to capitalise on it.
A Brexit trade deal means EU boats can fish in UK waters, but only until June 2026. Many politicians in Brussels are anxious about extending access beyond next summer, with any agreement being linked to the defence and security deal Sir Keir Starmer is seeking ahead of the UK-EU summit in London.
The British fishing industry has long felt betrayed by post-Brexit promises and now fears rights are going to be given away again.
Mike Cohen is chief executive of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations. He wants a better deal for the industry he represents.
“The EU has already opened the door to that revision,” he says.
Mike Cohen, chief executive of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations
“They’ve already said they don’t like the term that was agreed in 2020 that said after this first five-year period they’ll have to negotiate every year to get access to British waters. They want to change that to a long-term deal on access. If that’s contemplated by our government then I want them to get something in return. That’s a really valuable thing and valuable things have to be paid for.”
Across the North Sea though, the view is different. Representatives of multiple EU member states say they’ve seen the productivity of their fishing sectors decrease after Brexit.
They include France, Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Bert-Jan Ruissen is a Dutch MEP.
“It’s very clear that our fishermen already paid a very high price for Brexit because they lost already 25 per cent of their quota, that’s a very high price so from our perspective it is clear that further restrictions cannot be accepted by the EU,” he says.
Dutch MEP Bert-Jan Ruissen
The UK government said:
“No final agreement has been made. We are not providing a running commentary on our discussions with the EU, these are ongoing and cover a wide range of issues.
“We have been clear that we will always act in the national interest to secure the best outcomes for the UK.”
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