Puffins standing firm on sand eels debate.
Credit: SarahLou Photography – Shutterstock
The UK government is having a hard time mending its relationship with the European Union while balancing environmental concerns.
There’s a big legal fight brewing between the European Commission and Westminster over fishing rights off the coast of Britain, and it’s all to do with slippery puffin food. The Prime Minister had been hoping to get back on more friendly terms with the EU bloc, specifically in terms of trade, but a hitch has come up that clashes with the government’s environmental policy.
The sand eel, a favourite chow of endangered puffins, is on the catch list for European fishing boats, but the UK has banned the practice. Environmental groups, including the RSPB, campaigned for the prohibition of the commercialisation of the slithery species as dwindling numbers have been putting at risk puffins who rely on the eels for their diet.
European fishers within legal rights over eels
However, while perfectly within their legal rights, fishers are outraged that the UK government is stopping them from catching the eels for human consumption. Under the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), European fishing boats are well within their rights to take the slippery little creatures from British waters, but the TCA, signed with the EU by the previous government, clashes directly with UK environmental policy also initiated by the outgoing Conservative government.
The European Association of Fish Producers Organisations described the impact of the ban on catching the eels as ‘massive,’ while the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds says it is a ‘vital’ lifeline for seabirds.
Meanwhile, in Westminster, Prime Minister Starmer faces a slippery dilemma just as he was hoping for his great ‘Brexit reset’ to come to fruition.
