The Manx government has rubbished UK press reports that suggested the island has brokered its own fishing deal with the EU.

Reports in the Daily Express and the London Economic claimed the Isle of Man had moved to ’jettison’ itself from the UK’s ’disastrous’ fisheries deal by striking new terms with Brussels.

A headline in the Daily Express said the Isle of Man had ’gone rogue’ on fishing.

UK Environment Secretary George Eustace was quoted as saying the move was ’petty’ and ’indefensible’.

But in a statement, the Manx government insisted: ’The Isle of Man has not entered into separate negotiations with the European Union in relation to fisheries.’

He said the arrangements which set out the terms of access for certain EU vessels to parts of the Isle of Man’s territorial waters in the future are set out in Article FISH.10 of the UK-EU Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA).

’The TCA, as it relates to the Isle of Man, was negotiated by UK officials, on behalf of and in consultation with Isle of Man officials, and was concluded on December 24 2020,’ he said.

Under the agreement, only those vessels that can demonstrate a historic track record of having fished for more than ten days in any of the three 12-month periods prior to January 2020 can access Isle of Man waters.

Their future activities will also reflect the actual extent and nature of their historic activity during this reference period. To state that EU vessels can "plunder" Isle of Man waters suggests that access is uncontrolled and excessive,’ said the government spokesman.

’That is far from true, as access will be very tightly controlled, and subject to a local licensing regime and managed by the Isle of Man authorities on a sustainable basis, as is the case for all vessels fishing in Manx waters, irrespective of nationality.’

misunderstand

He said references to the UK Fisheries Minister appear to misquote or misunderstand his comments.

’He does not refer to the any actions of the Isle of Man as being "petty" or "indefensible",’ said the spokesman.

’We believe he may have indicated he believes that the EU’s attitude to the issue around the export of live bivalve molluscs from the UK to the EU as such.

’To be clear, scallops exported from the Isle of Man are not subject to this particular regulation as they do not fall within the category of live bivalve molluscs. Scallops caught in Manx waters are processed prior to export and are, therefore, not exported live.

’More broadly, the arrangement negotiated by the UK on behalf of the Isle of Man mean that all goods exported from the Isle of Man are treated in exactly the same way as goods exported from the UK to the EU.

’Naturally, having left the EU, these goods are now subject to customs and regulatory checks at the UK/EU border.’

Details on how the UK-EU TCA applies to the Isle of Man, can be found in the Council of Ministers’ ’explainer’ on the agreement, which was published on December 24.