EU trawlers will still be able to fish in UK waters after Brexit, Michael Gove has confirmed.
Despite promising to “take back control” of the seas, the Environment Secretary admitted the UK does not have the capacity to catch and process all its own fish.
Mr Gove, a leading Leave campaigner, confirmed foreign boats would continue to operate off the UK when he met Danish fishing leaders on a visit to Jutland earlier this week.
In July, Mr Gove suggested no foreign boats would be allowed to fish within six to 12 miles of the coast once the UK left the Common Fisheries Policy, and could then “decide the terms of access” for other countries.
Niels Wichmann, head of the Danish Fishermen’s Association, said it was a “logical announcement” but “very positive and a little surprising” so early in the Brexit talks.
SNP MSP Stewart Stevenson said the “startling revelations” showed the Tories could not be trusted to stand up for rural Scotland.
He said: “He [Mr Gove] could start by confirming that devolved powers over fisheries will transfer to Scotland so we can get on with developing our own management policies which put Scottish fishing interests, offshore and onshore, first."
Bertie Armstrong of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation said: “It is clear from our meetings with the government that control over our waters will be in our hands after Brexit. We will be out of the CFP and we will decide who fishes where and for what. We must have first call on quota.”
The UK’s Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: "Leaving the EU means we will take back control of our territorial waters, and for the first time in 50 years we will be able to grant fishing access for other countries on our terms.”
Meanwhile, European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has said Brexit will happen despite the UK realising the “density of problems” ahead.
Maltese PM Joseph Muscat last week said there were “hopeful signs” that “Brexit will not happen”, but Mr Juncker said: “My working hypothesis is that it will come to Brexit".
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