Opinion article links EU fisheries rules to British fishing decline

In an opinion article published by mbl.is, ship captain Þorsteinn Vilhelmsson argues that Britain’s entry into the European Economic Community in 1973 helped undermine fishing communities such as Hull and Grimsby by placing British fisheries under a common European policy.

Under Prime Minister Edward Heath, who led Britain from 1970 to 1974, the country joined the European Economic Community. British authorities no longer had sole control over how resources in their own waters were used, as the principle of shared access to fishing grounds became part of the system.

The article says the consequences were particularly severe for established fishing communities. In Hull, where the economy had been built around a large deep sea fleet, the amount of fish landed at the port fell from 131,792 tonnes in 1972 to 25,245 tonnes in 1981. The number of fishing vessels based in Hull dropped from 103 to 21.

The decline affected more than boats and catches. Fishing companies, processing plants, freezing facilities, shipbuilders, repair businesses, transport operators and other related industries also suffered. A 1983 debate in the British Parliament reportedly found that 12,000 jobs connected to the fishing industry had disappeared in Humberside in just three years.

The article also states that new countries, including Spain and Portugal, began fishing off Britain’s coast and managed the fishing grounds poorly. For people in Hull, Grimsby and other fishing communities, membership of the European Economic Community was therefore not a distant political issue, but a change that brought fewer boats, reduced processing activity and lost jobs.

Vilhelmsson acknowledges that Britain’s fishing decline had other causes, including the loss of access to Icelandic fishing grounds after the Cod Wars, changes in international fisheries and technological developments. The British Parliament had also noted that Hull’s deep sea fishing industry was already declining before Britain joined the European Economic Community.

However, he argues that membership changed the rules by making fisheries management a shared European responsibility and incorporating British fishing grounds into a common system. He presents the experience of Hull and Grimsby as a warning to Iceland, arguing that transferring control over natural resources to the European Union could have serious consequences for industries and communities.