Scottish fisherman writes to PM over Russian trawlers in UK Shared Zone

Scottish fisherman, Colin Leask has written to the PM asking why Russian freezer trawlers are allowed to fish in UK shared zone with Faroes. Photo: Colin Leask

At the time of writing his letter, he stated that just 100 nautical miles due west of Shetland, inside UK waters, there were 11 Russian factory ships fishing blue whiting. Not only were these vessels freely towing their nets inside UK waters whilst under sanctions against Russia, they were also fishing on a “ridiculously inflated” quota of 75,000 tonnes, which was granted to Russia by the Faroese Government, with there being a loophole that enable the Russians to then fish inside UK waters.

Mr Leask wrote: “With Russia still carrying out horrific atrocities against the Ukrainian people on a daily basis, and with the EU and UK supposedly having strict sanctions set in place against Russia, how are 11 Russian Factory Ships allowed to openly fish in UK waters?

“Secondly, regarding fishing access and quota distribution, how can the Faroese Government be in a position to grant Russia an allocation of 75,000 tonnes of blue whiting quota to be fished within UK waters? This 75,000 tonnes allocated from Faroe to Russia is actually 28.5% more than the allocated quota given to the entire UK pelagic fleet for fishing within its own waters. With the total UK blue whiting quota for 2022 only being 58,939 tonnes, how is a third-party country allowed to be allocated more quota within our waters than our own UK vessels?”

He continued: “After a lot of searching on the internet trying to understand why and how these Russian freezer trawlers are fishing beside us in UK waters, I managed to find a bilateral agreement called the ‘Forty Fifth Joint Faroese – Russian Fisheries Commission Agreement’, which was signed on the 26th November 2021. Within this agreement there was a mutual quota allocation set in place for the 2022 fishery, with Faroe authorities permitting Russia access into their waters, including a special shared zone between Faroe and the UK, which is south of the Faroese border line but within the UK sector. How can this be an equally shared zone when 100% of the zone is inside UK waters?”

He added: “This irresponsible allocation of quota by Faroe in the long term will be devastating for the UK pelagic sector.”

Source: Press Release

Colin Leask letter to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson

Dear Sir/Madam

So much for your Russian sanctions, Boris

Right now, just 100 nautical miles due west of Shetland, inside UK waters, there are 11 huge Russian factory ships fishing blue whiting.

Not only are these factory ships freely towing their nets inside UK waters while under so-called sanctions against Russia, they are somehow fishing on a ridiculously inflated quota of 75,000 tonnes, which was granted to Russia by the Faroese Government, allowing the Russians a loophole to then fish inside UK waters.

So there are two questions here.

Firstly, the most important in regards to this current war-torn climate. With Russia still carrying out horrific atrocities against the Ukrainian people on a daily basis, and with the EU and UK supposedly having strict sanctions set in place against Russia, how are 11 Russian factory ships allowed to openly fish in UK Waters?

Secondly, regarding fishing access and quota distribution, how can the Faroese Government be in a position to grant Russia an allocation of 75,000 tonnes of blue whiting quota to be fished within UK waters?

This 75,000 tonnes allocated from Faroe to Russia, is actually 28.5% more than the allocated quota given to the entire UK pelagic fleet, for fishing within our own waters. With the total UK blue whiting quota for 2022 only being 58,939 tonnes, how is a third party country allowed to be allocated more quota within our waters than our own vessels?

We catch our whole year’s blue whiting quota in just two landings, which is only two to three weeks for the whole year, which is the average for nearly all the UK pelagic boats that have allocations to fish blue whiting. There’s also UK pelagic boats with so little quota allocation of blue whiting, due to lack of a suitable track record, and a low overall TAC (total allowable catch) set by the EU Commission, that it’s not viable for them to fish the blue whiting.

Yet there’s 75,000 tonnes being freely given away to third party countries like Russia, instead of creating more employment within the UK fishing industry. This is very hard to comprehend!

We’re currently carrying out a fishery science trip, undertaking a mackerel egg survey in UK waters. The survey covers the west side of the North Sea, from north of Ireland up past the Western Isles of Scotland and finally finishing northeast then east of the Shetland Islands, all within UK waters.

As we were carrying out tows 100 nautical miles due west of Shetland, we came on the fleet of huge Russian factory ships towing south of the UK-Faroe border, within the UK sector.

Obviously we were concerned on both the questions already asked above, why and how were these mammoth Russian floating factories towing inside UK waters.

Even with the sanctions, Russian vessels are being allowed to come and go as they please, without any form of resistance from our Royal Navy or the Scottish fishery protection vessels. This is beyond belief, especially while the war in the Ukraine is still as horrific now as it was two months ago.

After a lot of searching on the internet trying to understand why and how these Russian freezer trawlers are towing beside us, I managed to find a bilateral agreement called the Forty Fifth Joint Faroese-Russian Fisheries Commission agreement.

This agreement was signed on the 26th November 2021.

Within this agreement there was a mutual quota allocation set in place for the 2022 fishery, with Faroese authorities permitting Russia the access into their waters, including a special Shared Zone between Faroe and the UK, which is south of the Faroese border line but within the UK sector.

The fish quotas that Faroe allocated Russia as their part of the agreed exchange of marketable species, was 75,000 tonnes of blue whiting, 13,300 tonnes of mackerel and 7,000 tonnes of herring.

In return Russia granted the allocation of the following fish quotas over to Faroe, which could be caught within the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Russian Federation in the Barents Sea, 15,356 tonnes of cod, 1,343 tonnes of haddock, 900 tonnes of flatfish, and 2,500 tonnes of shrimp.

This is all fair enough, it’s an agreed bilateral agreement, but what I don’t understand is how can Faroe allocate all these quotas of pelagic species to be fished in a defined special Shared Zone which is equally shared with the UK? Why would the UK Government allow this to take place?

Regarding future stocks and also quotas being set for blue whiting in UK waters, this unilateral and irresponsible allocation of quota by Faroe in the long term will be devastating for the UK pelagic sector. With Russia’s allocation of 75,000 tonnes alone, never mind Iceland’s share from Faroe, being fished inside UK waters, will totally skew all the hard work

from the marine fishery scientists, with their continual stock assessments within UK waters along with ICES (International Council for the Exploration of the Sea) with their final calculations on stock biomass and important advice on stock sustainability.

These final figures and advice is presented to the fishery commissions for setting future TAC quotas, for ensuring all stocks are kept sustainable. But with an additional 75,000 tonnes-plus potentially being fished from UK waters, the TAC figures will be skewed and in return show the blue whiting stocks to be unsustainable if being fished at this current level.

Knowing this now raises another question for the UK Government. Why does the UK still allow Faroe to equally use, and fish, within this special Shared Zone?

With Faroe allocating third party countries with no fishing entitlements within UK waters, giving the likes of Russian and Icelandic vessels a legal loophole to gain access to fish freely in this shared zone within UK Waters, not knowing what fish is actually being legitimately caught, as there are no Scottish Fishery Protection Agency (SFPA) vessels regularly policing that area west of Shetland.

Yet another very worrying reason our Government should rethink this equal access with Faroe, is knowing the repeated irresponsible and draconian actions which Faroe carried out with their mackerel quotas in 2010 and 2011. Where they unilaterally raised their quota from 25,000 tonnes to 85,000 tonnes then to a staggering 150,000 tonnes, totally against all ICES science and all fishery commissioners’ advice, which in return then lost the whole Atlantic mackerel fishery its MSC certification of sustainability.

Then in 2014 with Russia’s annexation of Crimea, resulting in sanctions again being enforced against Russia, Moscow retaliated by imposing a series of restrictions on the import of food, which included fish, from the EU, Norway, Iceland, USA and Canada.

As a result of this, it played straight into the Faroe Islands’ hands, becoming the only source of imports for Russia of herring, mackerel and farmed salmon, as they weren’t part of the EU.

Which in turn increased Faroe’s income from fish exports to Russia, from $112 million to $334 million. So now Russia is the single most important export destination for the Faroe Islands.

Then just last year in 2021 Faroe once more unilaterally raised their blue whiting quota from 82,000 tonnes to another staggering figure of 267,413 tonnes, and again against all recommendations from the ICES scientists.

So effectively, this ridiculous unilateral increase in quota of the Faroese blue whiting which they are using as a marketable commodity, and swapping for Russian Barents Sea cod, is basically just Faroe printing themselves new money, like the 75,000 tonnes of blue whiting worth £16.5 million, and in return they now get to catch and sell 15,356 tonnes for £60 million.

Faroe is very much heavily reliant on the UK for export, especially in regards to whitefish and salmon fish feed, where the UK has minimal export needs to Faroe.

In 2019, the UK and Faroe made a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), governing the trade relationship between the two countries post-Brexit.

But this so-called deal is so far skewed its laughable. In 2021 Faroe exported forty-two times more goods and services in value to the UK, than the UK exported to the Faroe Islands. So how’s that a fair even deal?

Since the FTA deal was set in 2019 the trade between both countries has increased dramatically. According to the Department of International Trade in 2021 the UK imported £901 million worth of goods and services from Faroe, of which £695 million was services (oil related), £159 million was fish/seafood and £44 million was salmon feed. But only exporting £21 million to the Faroe Islands, where only £1 million was for services, and £20 million for goods/food, of which was £7 million for animal feed, but £0 million for fish.

While this trade deal is important for both countries’ economies, the Faroe Islands are much more disproportionately reliant on the UK as an export destination than the UK is on Faroe.

In 2021 the UK was Faroe’s third largest trading partner, behind only Russia and Denmark. With UK imports from Faroe being UK’s 80th largest trading partner, accounting only for 0.1% of the UK trade.

So please explain why the UK Government doesn’t abolish this loophole of a Shared Zone with Faroe? Is it purely used as a bargaining chip to trade for Faroese so-called “services”, rather as a fair bilateral fishing agreement?

Really all its doing is allowing the Faroese to print money, and allowing third party countries like Russia and Iceland to catch large quantities of pelagic species within UK waters, of which our own industry would much more benefit from, both financially for our fishing ports’ economy, and the creation of new employment within our fishing communities.

Yours faithfully,

Colin Leask

First Mate

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