Fisheries

(asked on 19th January 2021) - View Source

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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to secure access for UK fishers to the (1) Barents Sea, (2) Norwegian Economic Zone, and (3) Greenland Economic Zone.


This question was answered on 2nd February 2021

The UK secured a fisheries treaty with Norway which was signed on 30 September 2020 and approved by Parliament on 2 December 2020. It also secured fisheries memoranda of understanding with Iceland and with Greenland published on 11 November 2020.

The UK is currently conducting a series of negotiations with several of its coastal State partners on fishing opportunities and access arrangements for 2021. The UK's overriding priority in these negotiations is to agree the right deal, which is balanced in the best interests of the entire British fishing industry.

Ahead of the conclusion of those annual negotiations, the UK's distant water fleet already has access to Norwegian waters to fish in the waters around Svalbard, by separate arrangement with the Norwegian authorities. The details of these opportunities were published on 14 January in the Secretary of State determination of fishing opportunities for British fishing boats covering the period to 31 March 2021.

The Kirkella received its licence from the UK Single Issuing Authority on 13 January. Following internal procedures, she set sail for Svalbard last week, and is already more than half way to her destination.

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