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Scotland’s fishing industry overwhelmingly voted for Brexit last June, bucking the national trend in which all Scottish councils voted to remain. Since then, fishermen’s attitudes - across the entire UK - have not changed, in fact they have arguably become more deeply entrenched as being freed from the stranglehold of the hated EU Common Fisheries Policy comes closer every day. Fishermen remain adamant they do not want to be bound by the constraints of the EU saying the industry has suffered a steady decline since 1972 when the industry was widely considered to have been “sold down the river” to secure Britain’s entry to the then European Economic Community.

Getty UK fishermen voted are furious Nicola Sturgeon is trying to call a second referendum

The focus of the fishing industry is entirely on ensuring we free ourselves from the straitjacket of the Common Fisheries Policy Bertie Armstrong

Following yesterday’s announcement by the Scottish First Minister revealing she is plotting to hold a second independence referendum between autumn 2018 and spring 2019, fishermen across the UK have stood up and said they will not support her. Bertie Armstrong, chief executive of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation, said: “The focus of the fishing industry is entirely on ensuring we free ourselves from the straitjacket of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), which forces us to give away to other EU countries almost 60 per cent of the fish in our waters. “Any constitutional arrangement under which we would continue to be bound by the CFP would be unacceptable to the industry.”

Getty The Scottish fishing industry is fed up of EU quotas

South of the border, fishermen from England, Wales and Northern Ireland, have accused the British Government of handing Scottish fishing concessions in a bid to keep the Scottish government sweet - and in the UK. Barrie Deas, Chief Executive of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations - representing the three nations - told Express.co.uk: “It’s not that we’re against Scotland having independence. “Our gripe is that in trying to avoid a second referendum, in trying to persuade the Scottish to stay in, concessions have been made to Scotland. “It’s an appeasement policy by Westminster. Our interests south of the border are being sacrificed to appease the Scots.”

The British Government assured Express.co.uk it is working to help the UK’s fishing industry as a whole. A Defra spokeswoman, said: “We recognise the importance of our fishing communities, which is why we work closely with industry and devolved administrations to ensure all decisions, such as the allocation of quota, are made on the basis of supporting all our fishermen.”

Getty The majority of fishermen across the entire UK want to leave the EU

Getty The fishing industry in England, Wales and N Ireland think the UK has given Scotland concessions

Leaders from the fishing industry across the British Isles have been in close talks with Defra, fishing minister George Eustice and environment and food secretary Andrea Leadsom in the lead up to Article 50 being triggered by the end of this month. They have been battling to ensure their industry is not forgotten as much of the public will be measuring the success of Brexit by how well the Government negotiates on their behalf.

Mr Deas added: “Fishing is going to be the litmus test for whether Brexit has been a success or not.” Inevitably the Scottish Government blamed Westminster and said: “The Scottish Government will always stand up for our fishing industry, which too often has been let down by successive Westminster governments – and the current UK Government’s actions give no confidence at all that they will properly protect the industry after Brexit. "And we are strongly opposed to any attempt to repatriate fishing powers from Brussels to Westminster instead of to the Scottish Parliament.”

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