Fish deal with UK 'vital to Norway'

NORWAY’S new fisheries minister spoke of the importance of securing a good post Brexit deal with Britain after key talks in London yesterday with his UK opposite number.
Harald Tom Nesvik (pictured) discussed Brexit and how it will affect Norway’s fishing and aquaculture industries with fisheries minister George Eustice.
The UK is one of Norway’s most important markets for fish, with hundreds of British fish and chip shops using Norwegian cod and haddock in their friers.
Nesvik said: ‘The UK is one of our most important seafood markets. It is also where we have seen the greatest growth, measured in export value so far this year.
‘I am concerned that we get at least as good market access for Norwegian fish to the UK after Brexit as we have today.
‘It is also crucial that we agree on future (fish quota) management in those areas where we have joint fishing activity.
‘Norway and the United Kingdom have many common views on what is needed to achieve sustainable management.
‘I am optimistic that we will succeed after the United Kingdom leaves the EU, when we should have a tripartite management system in the North Sea between the UK, the EU and ourselves.’
After Brexit, the UK will become an independent coastal state in control of its own waters. But British fishermen, especially those in Scotland, will clearly want continued access to Norwegian fishing grounds and vice versa.
Before leaving for London, Nesvik said it was important that the two countries each received a reasonable quota allocation and were able to work together, along with the EU, on good fisheries management.