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

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 23 January (HL4649), whether they have taken legal advice on the possibility of Dutch and Spanish fishermen seeking compensation from Her Majesty's Government for the loss of access to British waters after Brexit.

Total allowable catches for quota stocks and historical access to the UK’s 6 – 12nm stem from international agreements between coastal states or international bodies which do not generally give rise to any right to compensation for individuals.

Any decision by British fishermen to sell, and to buy, catching ‘rights’ (licences) to or from other fishermen or companies is a commercial one and one for fishermen alone to make. It is not for government to compensate fishermen for these business decisions.

Case law established the rights of those in other Member States to invest in UK quota shares. In particular, Dutch and Spanish entities are involved in fisheries in the Southern North Sea and South West approaches respectively. To ensure that quota allocated to a Member State benefits it, it can impose “economic link” conditions to ensure benefits through, for example, landings and crew composition.

We are reviewing the economic link condition and associated practices as part of the development of our future fisheries management arrangements after our withdrawal from the EU, and have commissioned a research project in order to support this work. The research project will conclude later this year.

Any amendments we make to the economic link conditions will be to ensure that the seafood sector and the wider UK economy derive maximum benefit from those fishing against UK quotas.