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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the reported comments made by the Chief Executive of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations that the UK–EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement is a “betrayal” of the fishing industry.

The UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement sets our future relationship with the EU as an independent coastal State and reflects the UK’s regulatory autonomy to manage fisheries within our waters.

The agreement also provides for an uplift in UK shares of quota equal to 25% of the value of the average annual EU catch from UK waters, and will be phased in over five years with the majority of this value (15%) being transferred in the first year (2021). Based on Total Allowable Catch and prices at the time the negotiations concluded, it is estimated that the full quota uplifts in 2026 could provide around £146 million more quota than the UK had as a Member State.

The agreement provides for an adjustment period in which there will be continued access to fish in UK and EU waters. From 1 July 2026, access will be a matter for negotiation as is normal for coastal States.