The Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture Minister was questioned in Tynwald this week about the island’s fishing laws when Brexit comes into full effect.

Geoffrey Boot was asked by Kate Lord-Brennan MLC what plans he has in place once the UK leaves the European Union at the end of the year.

He replied that the fishing laws would continue after January next year, following the Extention of the Territorial Sea Act 1991 and that the vessel Barrule would still monitor Manx waters after January 2021.

He said there had been a lot of discussion about what threats might emerge and the enforcement team had been in regular contact with other counterparts in the UK and other crown dependencies.

Mr Boot continued: ’Various enforcement scenarios were considered as part of Operation Yellowhammer when identifying possible circumstances arising from a no-deal outcome towards the end of 2019, and this continues through officers’ attendance at meetings of the UK Maritime Security Transition Board, where potential maritime security threats, including fisheries considerations, are modelled.’

Operation Yellowhammer is the UK government’s worst-case scenario contigency plan in the event of a no-deal Brexit, which covers 12 key areas including trade in goods and transport, healthcare services and food and water supplies.

Mr Boot continued: ’As part of normal operations, satellite-based surveillance data is used to provide temporal data to provide warnings around Manx waters. Officers will continue to liaise with counterparts.’

Mrs Lord-Brennan asked if a vessel intruding Manx waters was faster than the Barrule, what other defences there were in place.

Mr Boot responded by saying that even though the Barrule is a fairly slow vessel, the Isle of Man government doesn’t rely entirely on it and satellite surveillance and vessel monitoring would determine identifying lawbreakers.

Also, if a boat was able to be stopped and boarded in Manx waters, officers would do so and if not, appropriate action would be taken through a legal process once the illegal vessel reached its home port.