Why is the UK and the EU fighting for fish?

After nine months, the UK’s trade talks with the European Union were limited to the rights of fishing vessels in EU countries to catch in British waters. Both sides want fish to flow across borders and avoid clashes between ships at sea and the EU wants to maintain its access to vital waters for its commercial fishing industries for years to come.

“As far as fishing is concerned, the discussion is still very difficult,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the European Parliament. “In all honesty, sometimes it feels like we won’t be able to resolve this issue.”

While a member of the EU, the United Kingdom had to split its waters as part of the Common Fisheries Policy. But the British have long said that this unfairly restricted their own industry. The EU did not question the UK’s right to control its seas, but insisted that in exchange for a trade agreement and access to the bloc’s single market, it should continue to equip ships from countries such as France, Low and Belgium of a large part of the catch.

The talks focused on what is called the Exclusive Economic Zone, the sea between 12 and up to 200 nautical miles off the British coast. A section of 6 to 12 miles was also part of the discussion because European ships, particularly those from France, have had access to it for centuries, although it was not formally under EU jurisdiction.

Read more: Fish are chips in post-Brexit trade negotiations

There are some precedents for countries outside the EU to have agreements on block fishing. The EU has bilateral agreements with Norway and the Faroe Islands, for example, to jointly manage fish stocks and allow European fishermen to work in their waters.

Norway reached a bilateral framework agreement on fisheries cooperation with the United Kingdom in September. The country, which has a free trade agreement with the EU as a member of the European Economic Area, has said it can close its waters to European Union and UK fishing vessels on 1 January if it is to of an agreement between three parties will not be concluded at the end of the month.

The EU’s Common Fisheries Policy, which sets catch limits for each country, was set to deal with the sharp decline in fishing stocks in the world’s fourth largest fishing area and the highest in value. Of the world.

EU Fisheries Ministers set limits, known as the total allowable catch, for each species, each year in negotiations that often last well into the night. The idea is for each country to receive a fixed quota over a long period of time. Catch limits are reviewed annually and are subject to change.

The UK wanted to change the way fish stocks were calculated using a formula called ‘zonal fixation’, which the government said gave a much more accurate picture of where the fish are now, rather than the model of the EU based on data from the 1970s. The EU opposed Britain’s efforts to make access and the number of quotas dependent on annual negotiations because it said this would undermine the stability of European industry.

According to officials close to the negotiations, the UK on Friday rejected an EU offer that would allow the bloc to lose around 25% of the current € 650 million ($ 795 million) of fish caught annually in British waters. The UK is pushing for the reduction to approach 60%, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

To put it in context, negotiations are set on fishing rights equivalent to approximately 0.1% of the UK’s gross domestic product. The British government’s own analyzes in 2018 suggested that the economy will be at least 2.6% smaller in 15 years if there is no trade agreement.