Yahoo Finance Brexit: Britain unveils £23m funding for fishing industry
The UK government announced £23m ($31m) of financial aid for the UK’s fishing businesses that export to the European Union, amid industry worries that Brexit has put their livelihoods under threat.
Fishing had been a contentious issue throughout the Brexit negotiations.
When the UK signed the Brexit trade deal last month, it made concessions on fish, with a longer transition period preserving significant EU access to UK waters than initially demanded by the UK.
The UK’s fishing industry said last month it was disappointed that a Brexit trade deal made with the EU did not represent more of a reduction in the access that the bloc currently has to British waters.
Earlier in the week, protests took place in central London by some seafood exporters.
Amid all this, the UK government has said it will give the fishing industry funds “to support businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and adjusting to new export requirements.”
“This is in recognition of the unique circumstances of the fishing sector, which has had the most significant new requirements to adjust to, and for whom even a short delay can lead to goods perishing - at a time when the industry is facing lower market prices and demand due to the pandemic,” the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) said in a statement.
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The funds will be targeted at fishing export businesses who can “evidence a genuine loss” in exporting fish and shellfish to the EU.
Support will be available immediately and paid retrospectively to cover losses incurred since 1 January 2021.
The scheme will be targeted at small and medium enterprises and the maximum claim available to individual operators will be £100,000.
The Marine Management Organisation will administer the scheme on behalf of exporters across the UK.
The government will be consulting industry across the UK and working with the devolved administrations on these eligibility criteria before they are confirmed, it added.
Environment secretary George Eustice said the scheme will help those “who have experienced delays and a lack of demand for fish from the restaurant industry in the UK and Europe.”
“We are continuing to work closely with the fishing and aquaculture sectors to make sure that they are supported, and can continue to fish whilst contributing to the economies of our coastal communities,” he added.
The chief secretary to the Treasury, Steve Barclay, said that in addition to funding, the government will provide further support to businesses adapting to new export processes. This includes a new training package and workshop sessions.
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It also includes issuing clear guidance on the required IT forms to stakeholder representative groups, hauliers and businesses; twice-weekly meetings with businesses to understand and address issues as they arise; and working closely with businesses to help them get used to the new procedures.
The government said it is also working with French authorities to ensure that minor administrative issues associated with the ‘Export Health Certificates’ have not prevented goods from entering the market and with the EU Commission to help member states adopt consistent approaches.
Separately, prime minister Boris Johnson has committed to providing a £100m fund to help modernise fishing fleets, the fish processing industry, and “rejuvenate a historic and proud industry in the UK,” on top of the £32m that will replace EU funding this year.
The government said the UK-EU agreement returns 25% of the EU’s catch in UK waters, worth £146m, to Scottish, English, Welsh and Northern Irish fishermen, beginning at 15%.
The fishing industry has already been hit by the reduction in demand from the hospitality sector in the UK and other export markets as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic with market prices falling by as much as 40%, the government noted.
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