Fisheries Convention

The Fisheries Convention or the London Fisheries Convention is an international agreement signed in London in relation to fishing rights across the coastal waters of Western Europe, in particular the fishing rights in the North Sea, in the Skagerrak, in the Kattegat and on the European Atlantic coast. It gives right of full access to the fishing grounds between 6 and 12 nautical miles of the national coastline to the fishing industry of those contracting parties that had already been fishing there in the period 1953–1962.[3]

Fisheries Convention
London Fisheries Convention
  Parties (coastline involved)
  Parties (coastline not involved)
  Signatory (landlocked, no coastline)
  Former party
Signed9 March 1964 (9 March 1964)[1]
LocationLondon, United Kingdom[1]
Effective15 March 1966 (15 March 1966)[1]
Condition8 ratifications
Signatories12[1]
Parties12[1]
DepositaryGovernment of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland[2]
LanguagesEnglish and French

This agreement is largely superseded to the Common Fisheries Policy (the CFP), as all parties are members of the European Union.

Background and negotiations

Between Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Netherlands, United Kingdom the "International Convention for regulating the police of the North Sea fisheries outside territorial waters" (the North Sea Fisheries Convention) of 1888 applied which allowed fishing in each other's waters up to 3 miles from the coast line. The United Kingdom denounced this convention in 1963 in order to allow setting up a 12-mile exclusive fishery zone. After denunciation it invited the parties to that convention and several others to negotiate on several issues related to fisheries, which resulted in the Fisheries Convention.[4]

Negotiations took place between the parties of the European Economic Communities, the European Free Trade Association, the Commission of the EEC, as well as Iceland, Ireland and Norway.[4]

Parties

The convention has 12 parties,[1] while 1 signatory (Luxembourg) signed but did not ratify.

Poland is a non-signatory which acceded to the convention after its entry into force.[5]

PartyRatification/
Accession		Entry into forceSupersededDenunciation/
Withdrawal		Territorial scope
 Belgium10 February 196615 March 196621 September 1970
25 January 1983		all coasts
 Kingdom of Denmark9 October 196415 March 19661 January 1973
25 January 1983		1 January 1983 (Faroe Islands)
1 January 1985 (Greenland)		coasts in the North Sea, in the Skagerrak and in the Kattegat
 France5 July 196515 March 196621 September 1970
25 January 1983		The North Sea, the English Channel and the European Atlantic coasts
 Germany
(originally as West Germany,
including Land Berlin)		19 January 197019 January 197021 September 1970
25 January 1983		The North sea coast
 Ireland20 September 196515 March 19661 January 1973
25 January 1983		all coasts
 Italy25 March 196625 March 196621 September 1970
25 January 1983
 Luxembourgnot ratified21 September 1970
25 January 1983
 Netherlands20 July 197120 July 197121 September 1970
25 January 1983		The North Sea coast
 Poland7 June 19667 June 196621 September 1970
1 January 1973
25 January 1983
1 January 1986
1 January 1995
1 May 2004
 Portugal15 September 196515 March 196621 September 1970
1 January 1973
25 January 1983
1 January 1986		coasts north of the 36th parallel and the coasts of Madeira
 Spain10 February 196615 March 196621 September 1970
1 January 1973
25 January 1983
1 January 1986		coasts north of the 36th parallel
 Sweden16 February 196615 March 196625 January 1983
1 January 1995		west coast, north of a line drawn from The Kullen (sv) to Gilbjerg Head (sv)
 United Kingdom11 September 196415 March 19661 January 1973
25 January 1983		3 July 2017
effective 31 December 2020,[5]		All coasts, including those of the  Isle of Man and of the Channel Islands ( Jersey and  Guernsey [including  Alderney and  Sark])

Denunciation and withdrawal

The convention can be denounced after the passage of 20 years from its entry into force, subject to a two-year notice period.[2]

On 2 July 2017 the United Kingdom Government announced that it would withdraw from the Fisheries Convention.[6][7][8][9] Formal notice of the "denunciation" was given the next day, 3 July 2017.[5] The New Scientist observed that this was probably the first time a country had withdrawn from an international agreement named after its own capital city.[10] The denunciation took effect at the end of the transition phase on 23 December at 11 pm.[5]

See also

References
  1. "Fisheries Convention with Protocol of Provisional Application and two Agreements as to Transitional Rights (London, 9 March 1964 - 10 April 1964)". Retrieved 21 January 2020.
  2. "Fisheries Convention". UK Treaties Online. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
  3. Lado, Ernesto Penas (2016-02-08). The Common Fisheries Policy: The Quest for Sustainability. John Wiley & Sons. p. 66. ISBN 978-1-119-08565-2.
  4. "Memorie van Toelichting". National Library of the Netherlands (in Dutch). 30 August 1968. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  5. "UK Depositary Status List" (PDF). 1 January 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  6. UK takes key step towards fair new fishing policy after Brexit. UK Government, 2 July 2017.
  7. "UK leaves fishing convention amid Brexit talks". EU Observer. 3 July 2017. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
  8. Perraudin, Frances (2 July 2017). "UK to 'take back control' of waters after exiting fishing convention" – via The Guardian.
  9. "UK to withdraw from international fishing arrangement". BBC News. 2 July 2017. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  10. "Taking back control must not mean a return to overfishing". The New Scientist. 26 July 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
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