Storm over Brexit troubles Scottish fishermen

Andy Buchanan and Joe Jackson - In the small Scottish fishing village of Pittenweem, residents are worried the political wrangling in London is pushing their dream of Brexit beyond the North Sea horizon.

"Brexit - how do you describe it? It's an unknown now," said Richard Scott, a local fishing boat skipper, comparing bickering British MPs to "petty schoolchildren".

"It's starting to get really tiring all this back and forward... they should make the decision. If we're going, we're going."

Although both the surrounding region of Fife and Scotland as a whole backed Remain in the 2016 referendum, fishermen in Pittenweem - situated at the mouth of the Firth of Forth - overwhelmingly supported Leave.

"I want out - tomorrow if possible," Bill Wood, a retired fisherman in his 70s, told AFP, reminiscing about better days before Britain joined the EU in 1973.

"I want back everything we had ... we need our own waters for our own fish," he said.

Deeply disliked

Like in coastal communities across Britain, the EU's Common Fisheries Policy and its quotas stipulating how much fish and shellfish can be caught are deeply disliked here, along with foreign vessels being granted access to UK waters.

"We don't get to decide what we catch, that's all decided by them [the EU]," said fisherman John Wilson.

"We feel that they're letting the European boats catch more in our waters than they let us catch in our waters."

Prime minister Theresa May has vowed Britain will become an "independent coastal state" post-Brexit, free to catch what it wants and negotiate access to its waters.

Her plan would see the country remain in a transition phase lasting at least 21 months, during which it would continue to obey EU fisheries rules while the future relationship with the bloc is agreed.

Sceptical

Fishermen in Pittenweem are sceptical that the deal, which faces blockage in parliament, will lead to an independent fisheries policy, fearing access to British waters would be traded for no tariffs.

"We are going to be used as a bargaining chip," said Russell Ritchie, a local fishing boat owner, who admits the prospect has made him rethink his previous support for leaving the bloc.

"I just think I'd just vote to stay now if there was a re-vote."

Pittenweem's harbour is home to around 35 boats trawling lucrative shellfish like langoustines, lobsters, prawns, crab and scallops.

The catch is predominantly exported to EU members like France, Netherlands and Spain, which could impose tariffs on such imports if Britain does not grant its fishermen continued access to its waters post-Brexit.

Ritchie concedes that Brexit could "hinder" the shellfish industry, which relies on quick cross-border trade, through delays, fees and red tape.

"We don't want to upset the apple cart," he said.

But the Fishermen's Mutual Association, a local fishing boat cooperative, said many members were upbeat, believing the quality of the local catch will help them prevail come what may.

Wood, the retiree, added: "Everybody's desperate for what they catch here ... so I can't see any problem," echoed Wood. – Nampa/AFP