Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what bilateral agreements (a) have been negotiated and (b) are being planned with (i) Spain, (ii) Iceland and (iii) other EU countries with major fishing fleets to address the potential consequences of the UK's withdrawal from the London Fisheries Convention.

The UK gave notification of its withdrawal from the London Fisheries Convention on 3 July 2017. There is a two-year notification period.

Iceland is not a signatory to the London Fisheries Convention. Spain is but does not have access to the UK’s 6-12 mile zone which, for all signatories, are the waters covered by the Convention. On leaving the EU, the UK will become an independent coastal state and, under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, will have responsibility for the management of fishing resources within its own Exclusive Economic Zone including any access arrangements. The UK will make bilateral or multilateral agreements with other independent coastal states, such as Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Norway. Spain and all other EU member states will continue to be represented by the European Union, and the UK will deal bilaterally with the European Commission in any subsequent fisheries agreements.