Government 'hell-bent on destroying last remnants of Hull's distant-water fleet' as £52m trawler remains tied up in port

Hull East MP Karl Turner said it seems the Government “is hell-bent on putting the last nail in the coffin of distant-waters fishing” as the 100-strong crew of Kirkella wait for negotiations to be completed with Norway and others.

The £52m vessel, which fishes in Hull’s traditional grounds off Norway, Greenland and northern Atlantic waters, landed into King George Dock in December, but has since been laid up.

The trawler acts like a floating factory, with up to 70 tonnes of fish caught a day, processed and turned into fillets and frozen on board. Of the 100 crew, around half are from Hull and Grimsby.

The vessel’s usual arrangements to fish in Norwegian waters lapsed as a result of Brexit, and her future now depends on the outcome of separate negotiations between the UK and Norway.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, Labour MP Mr Turner said: “The industry and local leaders have been alerting government to this for over two years, yet here we are with no ability to fish.

“It seems as if this Government is hell-bent on putting the last nail in the coffin of distant waters fishing, just at the time we are meant to be taking back control and giving a desperately needed boost to the fishing sector.”

Mr Turner said he wanted to know the Government’s plan to secure continued access to the quotas the UK has caught historically in the Norwegian Economic Zone in and around the Barents Sea. The MP said he also wanted to know about plans to secure access to the waters around Svalbard, Greenland and Iceland.

He said: “My constituents desperately require answers to these questions and are expecting your Government to return to the negotiating table and make constructive progress as soon as possible.

“Fishing communities like Hull cannot tolerate any more dither and delay when their industry is on hold and jobs are at risk. I look forward to hearing from you as a matter of urgency.”

Chief executive of UK Fisheries Jane Sandell said: “Talks between the UK, the EU and Norway are only beginning now, and there is no certainty unless the Government seriously raises its game that we will get anything like the quota we need in distant waters that will make fishing economically viable for us.

“Without specific assurances on these quotas then we can’t start reassembling our crews - a difficult and time-consuming enough process given the current Covid situation.”

The UK has secured Fisheries Framework Agreements with Norway and the Faroe Islands which provide the basis for detailed negotiations about quotas.

Defra said the Government has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Greenland to boost co-operation on fisheries matters.

It said UK Fisheries already has access to fishing opportunities in the waters around Svalbard as a result of separate arrangements between the UK and Norway.

A UK Government spokesman said: “Negotiations for fishing opportunities in 2021 will be concluded as soon as possible.”

Scottish fishermen have voiced concerns over whether a deal with Norway which would benefit UK Fisheries would be detrimental to their interests if it allowed more access for Norwegian ships to Scotland’s waters.