Shetlands fishermen look forward to post-Brexit future

 In the fishing ports of the remote Shetland Islands off northern Scotland, hopes are high that Brexit could boost a once-thriving industry.

George Anderson, 59, skipper of the 70-metre (230 foot) trawler Adenia, told AFP that Brexit was a "no brainer" for Shetland fishermen.

"We only had one choice, which was to get back control," he said, staring out on windy Lerwick harbour from his high-tech captain's chair.

The islands' two fishing ports, Lerwick to the east and Scalloway to the west, are often swept by strong winds that whip up majestic waves.

"The weather? Well, the weather manages you more or less," Anderson chuckled in a broad Shetland accent.

"It's a good job. Unless you're a fisherman you wouldn't know -- it's going out hunting fish, catching them, taking them back and providing for your family. The drawbacks are the limited quotas. The government has given away a lot of fish."

In the Adenia's crew quarters, a "Fishing For Leave" poster used in the Brexit referendum campaign last year takes pride of place.

- 'Just a few boats left' -

The Shetlands, along with Scotland's Western Isles, were the only part of the United Kingdom that voted against joining what was then the European Economic Community in a 1975 referendum.

Soon after Britain joined the EEC in 1973, Shetlands fishermen found themselves hit with a double whammy of European integration and oil.

While the burgeoning oil industry was a boon for the islands as a whole, it drained manpower from a fleet just as it was being compelled to share its waters with a growing number of European nations.

Overfishing led to depleted stocks and decommissioning of vessels, and subsequent quotas often saw Shetlanders sidelined in their own waters.

"It was terrible to watch the decommissioning. Good boats gone, experienced guys giving up the fishing, that was it -- gone," said Anderson, whose three sons work on the Adenia as mate, cook and engineer.

"There’s just a few boats left now," he said.

"We had a good proud fleet once upon a time, and now we hope we’ll maybe get some of that back."

Anderson, whose grandfather was also a fisherman, remembers that of the five boys in his class at school, all went into fishing.

Gary Leask, 38, skipper of the Kestrel, a 14-metre shellfish boat, comes from a younger generation who had a choice between fishing and oil.

"When the oil came it was guaranteed money and good wages, while the fishing is dependent on weather and fish stocks," he said.

When he left school, Leask said 30 boys went on to study fishing, but only three were still employed in the industry.

"The others went into the oil or other industries, which is a shame," he said.

- 'Our big fear' -

The small island grouping lies deep in the North Atlantic, and is closer to Oslo than London.

A fifth of the Shetlands' workforce is employed in aquaculture, which generates a third of the islands' economy.

Despite their initial scepticism about the European project, 56 percent of Shetlanders voted to remain in the European Union in the June 23, 2016 referendum.

Scotland as a whole voted to stay in the EU, with 62 percent of votes cast there opposing Brexit, while Britain opted to leave by 52 percent to 48 percent.

There is still burning resentment here over a memo written during Britain's negotiations to join the EEC -- revealed 30 years later -- which said that fisheries "must be regarded as expendable".

Fishermen worry they could be in for the same treatment as Prime Minister Theresa May prepares to begin negotiations to leave the EU.

"That is our big fear," said Simon Collins, executive officer at the Shetland Fishermen's Association.

"That wound is still open," he said.

Fergus Ewing, Scotland’s Rural Affairs Secretary, warned that the British government might try to trade away access to British fishing waters to other countries as part of Brexit negotiations.

"We believe that we should have an independent Scottish government that stands up for fishermen and fishing interests," he said.

But a UK government spokesperson responded by saying that leaving the EU was "a real opportunity" to ensure fair quotas and sustainable stocks.

source: AFP