Brexit and Fisheries: Fish and Chips Aplenty?

• Published in: The Political quarterly (London. 1930) 2019-10, Vol.90 (4), p.611-619
• Main Author: Billiet, Stijn
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Brexit; Campaigns; Commercial fishing; Consumers; Employment; EU membership; European Union; Fish; Fisheries; fisheries policy; Fishermen; Fishing; Fishing industry; Food security; Industrial policy; Policy making; Politicians; Referendums; Seafood
• ISSN: 0032-3179; 1467-923X
• DOI: 10.1111/1467-923X.12748

When discussing Brexit and food, fisheries take a special place: first, because the fisheries sector punched far above its (economic) weight in the campaign leading up to the Brexit referendum; second, because of the promise of a bright future for the fishing industry—both by politicians promising to ‘take back control of our waters’ as well as by industry representatives auguring a ‘sea of opportunities’ for fishermen. As it is still far too soon to assess fully the effects of Brexit for the fishing industry and the market for fisheries products, this paper takes a step back and analyses the context within which the changes brought about by Brexit will be taking place. It analyses the complexity of the post‐Brexit fisheries context and its possible repercussions for food policy and the seafood sector. One of the central questions is whether Brexit could contribute to reviving the fisheries industry and enhancing food security in the UK. To explore this further, two other questions present themselves: when is fish UK fish? And what do UK consumers want? Finally, the paper looks at the structure of employment in the seafood industry and how that may present policy makers with difficult decisions. The paper concludes that the picture when it comes to the effect of Brexit on fisheries policy is expected to be mixed, and that both the potential benefits and costs of Brexit are likely to be unevenly distributed within the fisheries sector.