Sir, – Stephen Collins rightly says, "The UK fishing industry . . . blamed EU policies for its plight and enthusiastically supported the Brexit campaign" ("Common sense must prevail in Brexit fisheries row", Opinion & Analysis, October 30th). However, your columnist doesn't entirely explain why so much fish in British waters is now caught by boats from other EU countries.
In the late 1980s, grants from Brussels were made available for fishing communities to upgrade their boats and other equipment. This funding had to be match-funded by national governments. The UK, unlike other EU governments, didn’t supply this match-funding. Consequently, British fishermen couldn’t compete with the bigger, more efficient foreign boats, and many sold their quotas to French, Spanish or Dutch fishing companies.
Stephen Collins is correct that “fishing symbolises the emotional appeal of Brexit” to many people in Britain.
If only Remain had highlighted the real reason why British fishing was in such dire trouble, then the Leave campaign might not have been quite so successful. – Yours, etc,
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JOE McCARTHY,
Dublin 7.