ben bese

this is the briefing, britain is a proud island nation. i'm sally bundock. the surrounding seas have always our top story: been a vital source of food. but who profits most from the uk's offshore riches? forfour decades, the eu made the key decisions. but then came brexit. britain and the eu are locking horns over the terms of their future the federal reserve cuts relationship and places like these interest rates for a second are on the frontline. time to protect the us economy there is going to be a fight over from the worst consequences of the cornavirus pandemic. fishing and it could get ugly. as germany imposes border restrictions and spain imposes

prime minister boris johnson a lockdown, we'll have says he is taking back the latest on the stress placed control of britain's unrivalled marine resources. in france, they respond on emergency services and health workers. with talk of seaborne and here the uk government confrontation and comes under pressure economic retaliation. could fishing sink hopes of to clarify its strategy on mass gatherings and how hospitals and schools should cope. post—brexit collaboration? and last orders in new york and los angeles as bars, restaurants and cafes close down to halt the spread of the virus. and with major sporting events cancelled or postponed, dawn in fraserburgh in deep midwinter. scotland's north—east coast looks out on some of the best fishing grounds in the world. it's easy to see why britain's fishermen have long felt isolated and ignored. to get to fraserburgh from london involves a journey of 1,000km. you have to be up early to see what's come in on the overnight tide.

it's just after 7 o'clock on a very chilly morning and we've arrived at the fish market. let's go inside and see what they are selling this morning. 100, 100! this morning, supplies are limited so bidding is sharp, price is high. these fish will be on dinner tables in london in continental europe within 2a hours. number two, number two! business may be risk but the mood is far from buoyant. the local fishing fleet that supplies this market has halved in size since written joined the eu. in size since britainjoined the eu. just describe to me how this market works. we sell haddock, whiting, cod and what we call rough. after that, monks, anything else goes in the second seal. what kind of sale, how much fish, what with the prices like? 400 boxes, prices were good probably because of the type of weather we've had, there hasn't been much fish

so the price is good. just down the coast from fraserburgh is peterhead, one of europe's busiest fishing ports. harvest hope is about to set sail on a 10—day trip far out into the north atlantic on the hunt for cod and haddock. come aboard! it's a big trip. how far offshore are you going? we could be going as high as 300 miles west. it's out in the atlantic. how many days is that? hopefully 8 days but no more than 10 days keep the quality. and you need to go that far to find the best fish stocks? yes, it's lovely haddock but it keeps us out of the north sea, reduces the effort in the north sea and because the cod quota has been cut this year, we have less time

to spend in the north sea. the amount of fish skipper james stephen can catch is controlled by quota and under the eu system, 60% of the quotable fish caught in uk waters belongs to non—british fishermen. james, where are we going now? down into the accommodation. i want to see this because i want to get a sense of how you guys live when you are on a 10—day trip. you've got to get used to the stairs. it's easy for me. are you ready to go in here? let's have a look at one of the cabins. so this is it, sleeping quarters. sleeping quarters for the next ten days, 8—10 days. well, let's be honest, it's cramped. well, it is what it is. on day nine and ten, are you getting pretty fed up being in here? i am in my own ways. james, i know you've been

in the fishing business a long time. what does this phrase that so many fishing people echo from borisjohnson of taking back control, what does it mean to you as a fisherman? to me, taking back control is more important than taking back quota. the fishing stocks are moving further to the north, there is more and more effort now going into the uk basin. i would say at this 50% increase in the last five years and with have to manage and control that effort or i think we will see the finish of our industry. so what, your contention is that 65% or so of fish in uk waters that are currently taken by european, eu fishermen, all of that should go to the british, that there should be no european fishing in british waters? i've never said that, i don't think that would be correct. they have a right and an entitlement

to also fish in our waters but a fair, equitable share. we were fed an injustice in 1972 when ted heath took us into the european union, we were sold down the river. all we are asking, or i am asking, is that injustice is reversed. what represents justice? i'd like to see a bigger share of the stock. how much? we only take about 35%. i'd at least like to see that doubled. if you go to norway, they take 85% of the stocks in their water. iceland, 90%. but hang on a minute, james. if you did that, if you doubled the amount of the proportion of the fish in uk waters that was taken by uk fishermen, you would be destroying the livelihoods of many french, belgian, dutch and other european fishermen. the europeans aren't going to tolerate that. i don't care. take a look around this coast. there is inaction,

and in action of the industry. there is a fraction, and fraction of the industry. there used to be a50 boats at least from the north—east corner. now there are only over 100 so we have seen coastal communities decimated, disappear, all we are asking is that we get some of it back. when it comes down to this negotiation, what is your message to the french, for example? the french fishing minister said the other day that unless the status quo is maintained and access for french and other european fishermen is guaranteed in uk waters, on pretty much the basis it is today, if that's not the case, then not a kilo of british fish will be sold in france. what do you say to him? well, not a french boat will fish in uk waters or a kilo of french fish sold here. simple, tit—for—tat. that sounds like open economic war on the sea. so be it.

deep sea fishing is a tough business. a couple of days after leaving peterhead, james sent me these images of a steep swell whipped up by gale—force winds. still, at least he had found plenty of fish. prime minister borisjohnson went to peterhead to sell his vision of a rosy post—brexit future for britain's fishermen, liberated from brussels' control. but there are plenty of people in the seafood business who don't share his optimism. denholm is a family—owned fish processing business. to see the production line, you have to be kitted out. procedure. right. so i'm going to have to have both the coat and the boots. yes. 0k. but you'll get a hairnet first over there.

what size of boots are you? iam11. how's that? am i going to be better now? lovely, just gorgeous. great. i am now ready for anything inside this plant. this plant specialises in exporting mackerel and herring. more than 80% of their production is exported into the eu. the workers here are eu citizens from eastern europe. roman, for example, was a trained lawyer from latvia. he came to peterhead because he could earn more filletting fish. ijust decided to find a job abroad and i came here and found a job in fishing factory. and you obviously quite like it because you've stayed here for a long time. yes, i am staying here for 12 years already. i took a mortgage, i bought my own flat to live and i'm absolutely

satisfied with my life. brexit means the supply line of cheap labour from the eu will be cut off. worse, if the eu imposes tariffs and the new customs regime on uk seafood exports, this place is in big trouble. we speak at a time when the fishing industry is absolutely at the top of the political agenda because of where we are in terms of brexit and negotiating a trade deal. do you regard this as a time of regret or opportunity for what you do? well, i would like to, i was hoping there would be opportunity but the concerns we have obviously, i know deal brexit would be devastating for our industry a no—deal deal brexit would be devastating for our industry because the export business is a major part of it. do you mean no trade deal where britain walks away at the end of this year

on wto terms without any preferential trade arrangements at all? that does not bear thinking about. why? well, we depend on the export market. the eu was a major exporter customer and if we go into wto rules with supplies about fish, will be uncompetitive. so if the current stand—off between the british government and the europeans in terms of the fishing industry of the future continues, you are going to be looking at a situation where tariffs, taxes are put on mackerel as you sell it into europe. how do you feel about that? it would destroy our industry because if there are tariffs applied, we will have trouble getting raw material because we will not be able to feed our fishermen the market rate because we will have to take into account a tariff when we sell the fish which makes us uncompetitive.

so britain's fishermen are talking tough to europe while the processes are full of foreboding. it's a conflict of interest which the eu can exploit. boulogne—sur—mer on the coast of france is separated from england byjust 20 miles of water but brexit is creating a different sort of distance. there are 700 fishermen in this town. some work on huge deep sea trawlers but most are on small family owned boats which rely on eu guaranteed access to uk waters. bonjour. gitan heads out on the adele camille for lobster pots. his annual quota of turbot and shellfish adds up to more than 30 tons. tiny in terms of commercial fishing but an entire livelihood for him

and his crew. french fishermen have a track record when it comes to direct action. back in 2018, they attacked fishing boats in the channel in a dispute over scallops.

the uk is deploying more fisheries protection vessels in anticipation of a new wave of french anger. but in boulogne, there are other ways the french can apply pressure on britain's fishing industry. to understand the economy of boulogne, you need to get away from the port and the fishing boats and drive into this sprawling industrial zone because what boulogne has actually done is turn itself into the most important fish processing and distribution centre in all of europe.

this is really an animus on distribution centre but the difference is, this one is totally and utterly devoted to seafood. the boss showed me truckloads of british seafood pass through here every day. this has to be a high—speed 24/7 operation. but if the eu does not get a deal it likes on fishing, britain's seafood exports could face major delays. people working in the fish industry are very concerned about brexit, especially if it is a hard brexit because it will be a problem for everyone.

i don't think anyone sees it as an opportunity. it has a lot more constraints and it will be very difficult. we have a very small shelf life so we need to be very quick and if we lose two or three hours at the vetting service... because of new inspections and new rules? custom clearance and everything, we lose 2a hours because if the goods miss the departure, the next departure is one day later. so using british seafood and importing it will be much less attractive? obviously, yes. the price would be very expensive as well with these controls result, for a small load, it will be over a euro a kilo extra and that makes the products unattractive financially. right now, the uk and the eu are indulging in high—stakes brinkmanship overfishing and the french seem to think they hold powerful cards. we are in a tough negotiation and, yes, fishing is the first dossier on the table. and unfortunately, it is not

possible, you know, for the french to give up like that. for two reasons. yes, the fishermen, but we know also what the reaction will be, what will they do? they will blockade the port. here on boulogne, probably in calais and that will affect the other side of the industry. all the goods, the $300 billion of trade that crosses the channel every year will be affected if a couple of boats are blocking the ports of calais and boulogne. this is insane. are you telling me that the french are prepared to countenance blocking not just the fishing industry in the uk but also blocking trade across the channel, all in the interest of a fishing industry in france that represents

a tiny proportion of your gdp? it is symbols. and we know borisjohnson is also playing on symbols on both sides. so let us see. that is what we all say, that is what president macron and president bertrand, the regional president, say. he's your boss. he is my boss, yes. is he bluffing ? are you french, ultimately, bluffing on this fishing matter? unfortunately, we are not.

fishing is a key obstacle to post brexit relations between britain and europe, not because of economics — it makes just a tiny contribution to both the british and the eu economies. but because of politics. symbolism and emotion make compromise difficult. the european union has said that essentially the status quo as it currently exists must be maintained if britain is to continue to have preferential access in terms of trade to the eu market. that is the reality that this government is ultimately going to have to recognise. you have summed it up. why is it in any way fair 80% of the cod from the channel is caught by french fishermen? these are shared waters in the channel, and also we have territorial limits. we need the fish back. crosstalk seriously, as we do a trade deal we cannot tell the germans we will put in extra tariff on the car because you want to bring in 40% of german cars...iio% of sales in this country are german cars.

the eu will not want anything else taken out of trade talks and dealt with in a special way, so they cannot have fish done in a special way either. let us be very specific. how much fish do you think the eu can legitimately claim to get after the brexit negotiations are finished? you said it is currently about 60% of the fishing uk waters that they get. what do you think the number should be in the future? the way to do is to look at previous rights that were had before eu membership and then do a negotiation with the eu. give me a ballpark figure. the europeans want to know how serious you are being. we are serious but we will not give... when i buy something will i give you my price? no. we will take back control of our waters and then we will negotiate with the eu on a historic basis. taking back control, referring to history,

none of that is very helpful. the secretary of state for environment, food and agriculture, george eustace, said the other day that there will indeed be reduced access. so he is already telling the europeans you will have to accept a much thinner slice of the pie. the only question is how thin. he will say that we will take back, i suspect in negotiations, all of our fish, right? and then we will sit down and look at what the historic rights they may claim and do a negotiation. that is absurd to say that we britons have the right to fish all the fish in uk waters. we have neither the fleet size nor the manpower nor the processing capacity to handle that level of fish. it is absurd and the europeans know that. what needs to be done, and i will repeat this time and time again, is to take control of those waters back. once we have the fish

and have the quota then we look at what we can fish, what they can claim historically as their right to fish and then we sit down and negotiate. there will have to be a negotiation. norway negotiates with the eu, everybody does. but what is fundamental is that there will be, and there must be, more fish for ourfishermen because we have not got anywhere near the share of fish that we should have from our waters at the moment. the fact that we need to have our rights back and then negotiate as this independent coastal state is absolutely key and that is what is the select committee, parliament and we are absolutely determined to do. it is easy to grandstand but you must be aware that there is grandstanding on the other side. president emmanuel macron has made it clear that he wants the status quo to be maintained. french fishermen to have the right to fish as they do and if that deal cannot done he says there will be no wider trade agreement and if that is the case,

many industrial sectors in the uk, more important than fishing, will suffer. so the leverage here is really with the europeans. there will always be grandstanding on both sides. isn't it time for you to end the grandstanding ? no it is not when you have the french president thinking he can walk all over our waters, or swim all over them. he cannot do that. and the french will need to face down all the european states, and i have ten years in the european parliament, if any state will be difficult it will be france and we need to stand up to france because we will do a deal with them that they cannot dictate to us. this is the whole idea

of leaving the eu. today's catch in fraserburgh will be on spanish plates tomorrow. but one yearfrom now, who knows? fishing has become a brexit litmus test. the fishermen are about to find out what taking back control really means. hello. we've got some good weather on the way. monday is expected to be a sunny day, across much of the country, after what has been a bit of a changeable weekend for some of us.

and the weather front moving away towards the east. a big gap in the clouds here. and this is where our area of high pressure is coming from, in fact, an azores high is building in, from the south—west, and that's clearing the skies across the uk from monday. but there is low pressure out there in the atlantic, and it will bring some rain later on monday, to north—western parts of the country. but this is what looks in the short term. you can see where the air frost is, where blue colours are. most major towns and cities probably just around freezing, but certainly out in the countryside a frost. so first thing in the morning on monday, apart from a few areas, it will start off sunny. remember that frost, but then, in the north—west of the uk, come the afternoon, it is going to cloud over, the winds will strengthen, and we are expect rain in northern ireland and western scotland. looks like glasgow is in for some

rainfall at least by the time we get around the middle of the afternoon. here's tuesday's weather forecast — the high—pressure, that azores high that's building in right now, will slip away a little bit further towards the south and the east, and allow for some of these weather fronts to make inroads, so that does means that, after a beautiful and sunny start to the week on monday, tuesday is going to turn a little bit more cloudy. you can see that cloud streaming in on a south—westerly wind and, on top of that, we've got yet more rain there for northern ireland and also particularly western scotland. but with south—westerly winds also comes mild air, so you can see there temperatures there widely into the mid teens, across england. and through the course of tuesday night and into wednesday, pretty much the same. so this weather front that is sliding in on these south—westerlies, keeps bringing mild air to the south of the country. quite a bit of cloud around and even some rain too at times, but across northern parts of the uk, a different source of those winds coming in — source of wind direction — coming in from the north atlantic so it's going to be colder there, eight degrees in glasgow but 16 in london, 00:27:55,083 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 remember in those south—westerlies.