Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Tuesday, 27 November 2018
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Sea Fisheries Sustainability Impact Assessment: Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine
3:30 pm
Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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I heard Mrs. Theresa May yesterday trying to sell her deal and one of the main points she made was that UK fishing vessels would operate outside the Common Fisheries Policy, CFP. That was a strong selling point for her. One of the main reasons behind Brexit is that the British want to get away from European regulations and from the constraints placed on them by the EU. In that context, if they begin to overfish their own waters, what impact will that have on TACs in the future? Fish do not know where the border between the waters of the EU and UK lies. The border on the land is hard enough to establish and police but the border in the sea is even harder. I am conscious of the fact that in a few years from now the December meeting of the agri-fisheries Council could face a much starker problem than is currently the case.