How Falkland Island squid could be a bargaining chip in Brexit reset talks
For its critics, Brexit left the UK cut off from the EU in a way that has damaged the economy.
But some parts of British soil were left more separated than others – with overseas territories left outside the Brexit trade deal signed by Boris Johnson, despite the UK’s requests, and facing damaging tariffs on their exports to the EU.
It is a situation which is biting hard in the Falkland Islands, which has been lobbying Sir Keir Starmer to get EU tariffs on vital fish exports slashed or cancelled as part of his EU reset plan, which is designed to “make Brexit work”.
An island government source believes key ministers are “receptive” to the demands to use reset talks next year or parallel negotiations to replace existing UK-EU fisheries agreement, which expires in June 2026, to get the tariffs lifted. A Government spokesman told i “the UK understands the importance of tariff-free trading with the EU for the Falkland Islanders”.
When quizzed about the issue last month, which means 6-18 per cent tariffs on Falklands fish bound for the EU, the Prime Minister said the well-being of the islands was “personal” to him after his uncle was bombed while serving in the 1982 war to defend the territory’s British status against Argentine invasion.
Fish, alongside youth mobility, is also where the EU is pushing for concessions from the UK in return for meeting Starmer’s demands for a security pact and a veterinary agreement to boost cross-border food trade.
It means that the Falkland Islanders could find themselves on the table as a bargaining chip, as the EU demands continuous ]access to British waters and a lifting of the UK ban on sand eel fishing, while Starmer pushes for closer defence and trade ties.
The tariffs could soon be of interest to consumers on both sides of the continental Brexit divide, as around half the calamari sold to locals, as well as British and other holidaymakers in Spain, comes from the Falklands, according to the island’s government.
While the industry on the islands is currently absorbing the tariffs, at a cost of £15m a year, they may eventually be passed on in the form of rising prices of the ubiquitous battered squid rings sold in Spanish beachside restaurants.
Teslyn Barkman, a member of the Falklands legislative assembly, said she was “hopeful” that a deal can be reached, adding: “This feels like a win-win because the EU market wants our product.”
Failing to address the tariffs would cause a “substantial loss” to the Falklands, including for tax revenue, with around 90 per cent of islands fisheries products destined for the EU.
The Falklands fisheries relationship with the EU also affects around 53 per cent of the islands’ economy, according to Barkman, due to how it affects the services around the industry.
(Photo: Cristina Arias/Getty Images)
“We are a community that is very heavily dependent on that one sector so even a small drop in revenue is quite significant.”
Barkman also called for “direct contact” to the UK’s mission in Brussels and “dedicated support” from the Department for Business and Trade.
She went on: “It’s difficult to imagine being part of the UK’s current trade arrangements because there would be a lot of regulations and technical requirements that would be quite difficult for an administration of our size to fulfil, particularly when it is so specific in to this aspect of trade.
“So to be able to get to a point where the UK is asking for a relationship that’s similar to the one that we had before where it was a side arrangement for smaller nations… to be able to access the EU market in a way that benefited their economic prosperity and development, and in a way that then reduced the possibility of a gap furthering between what are developed powers of the EU and the small islands.”
A Government spokesman said: “The UK understands the importance of tariff free trading with the EU for the Falkland Islanders and ministers and officials will continue to work closely with the Falkland Islands government.
“We will protect the interests of our fishers and fulfil our international commitments to protect the marine environment.”
It comes as both the UK and EU prepare for what are likely to be highly controversial negotiations on fisheries, with the current agreement on access and quotas expiring in June 2026.
The EU has already been demanding that the negotiations begin now, following a string of controversies including French protests over the UK ban on bottom trawling within its territorial waters, and Brussels’ legal action over the British decision to ban the catching of sand eels, a move designed to protect puffin populations but hated by Denmark and Sweden.
British fisherman, who Labour said during the July election were “sold out” under the original Brexit deal, are also pushing for more take of the UK stock for British boats.
Mike Cohen, chief executive of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations, told i the industry wants the Government to “negotiate robustly”.
Some believe the UK could even try to keep EU boats outside the zone of 0-12 miles off the UK’s shore, where small British boats are being out-competed by huge EU trawlers.
Cohen said he wanted to see “changes in access [for the EU] to [UK] territorial waters where our most vulnerable fleet is, where the fisheries are most delicate – our ability to manage those fisheries is difficult if we can’t control who fishes there.”
He added: “We weren’t happy with the access arrangements, we weren’t happy with the quota shares, we don’t feel they fairly represent where the fish resources sit – 70 per cent of the quota for sole in British waters is held by Belgium, 80-odd per cent of the cod in the English part of the Channel is held by France, we don’t feel this is a fair distribution.”
