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In the first arbitration of its kind under the EU/UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, the EU is taking the UK’s decision to ban sandeel fishing in the UK’s portion of the North Sea and all Scottish waters to a tribunal.
Sandeels are an important species and are a key prey for marine and bird life. The UK ban came about because of increased powers to manage its waters after Brexit and the UK’s departure from the EU Common Fisheries Policy. The ban had support of environment groups across the UK and Europe as the impact of the fishery on the environment had been questioned since the fishery started up in the mid-1980s. The arbitration is likely to be heard in early 2025.
Sandeels are the base of the food chain for the North Sea. This shallow, nutrient rich, part of the European continent was historically one of the more fertile environments on Earth. The huge herring shoals which once swarmed in its waters fed much of Northern Europe, as well as supporting dolphins, seals, bluefin tuna, huge halibut and skate along with bird populations of kittiwakes and the charismatic puffin. Two hundred years ago life in the North Sea would have been closer to James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water than the overexploited and damaged environment we see today. The food web is interconnected so taking out the base of the food chain simplifies the entire ecosystem and starves all those other species which prey on the sandeel.
The UK’s move was a bold step which was applauded by environment groups at the time and represented a fundamental shift by the UK in its fisheries management. As part of the Common Fisheries Policy, fisheries management was exempted from key aspects of environmental law. Upon Brexit these exemptions fell away and fishing became subject to the same rules as any other industry, prompting some groups to identify potential for Brexit benefits. The sandeel fishery ban was part of a suite of post-Brexit measures which aimed to restore the UK marine environment from damaging fishing activities.
The UK’s proposal document for the sandeel closure explained that it would benefit large parts of the ecosystem and increase the overall biomass of life in the North Sea and Scottish waters. The most significant improvement this would deliver in terms of populations would be seabirds (+7 per cent), seals (+4 per cent), Baleen whales (+2 per cent), whiting (+2 per cent) haddock (3 per cent), cod (+1 per cent) and other bottom-dwelling fish (+1 per cent).
Crucially the proposal showed that the closure would deliver improvements in criteria including biodiversity, commercial fish and food webs in UK waters, currently all in an unfavourable condition, as required under laws shared by both the EU and the UK.
Charles Clover co-founder of the Blue Marine Foundation said: “The act of closing the sandeel fishery has been coming for years, along with the enforcement of offshore marine protected areas – in order to meet the law which the UK and EU share. That law reflects what society wants, almost certainly in both the EU and the UK, rather than the wishes of a few profitable fishing interest groups. The UK is finally tackling the root causes of ecosystem degradation at sea, in trying to return our seas to a more productive, rich state.
“Any decision to suspend or dilute the ban on sandeel fishing in UK waters would be a stepbackwards in an increasingly desperate context for the marine environment. It is tragic to see the EU seeking to undermine the UK’s – and its own – environmental regulations.”
