Britain will today begin the process of ‘taking back control’ of its waters from the European Union by reducing the number of foreign boats that can fish close to its coastline.

Vessels from five European countries are currently allowed to fish within six and 12 miles of the coastline under the London Fisheries Convention.

But the process of leaving the agreement – which will take up to two years to complete – will be triggered by ministers today. ‘We’re taking back control,’ Environment Secretary Michael Gove said yesterday.

‘Leaving the London Fisheries Convention is an important moment as we take back control of our fishing policy. It means that for the first time in more than 50 years we will be able to decide who can access our waters.

Vessels from five European countries are currently allowed to fish within six and 12 miles of the coastline under the London Fisheries Convention. Pictured: A fishing boat in Eyemouth Harbour

Mr Gove, pictured, whose father’s fishing business closed down because of EU fishing policy, said he would not ban foreign fishing in the six to 12-mile zone

‘This is an historic first step towards building a new domestic fishing policy as we leave the EU, one which leads to a more competitive, profitable and sustainable industry for the UK.’

The London Fisheries Convention – which applies to vessels from France, Belgium, Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands – sits alongside the EU Common Fisheries Policy.

The policy allows all European countries access between 12 and 200 miles of the UK and sets quotas for how much fish nations can catch. It will be part of the Brexit negotiations.

The convention was signed in 1964 before the UK joined the EU, so departure has to be separate from Brexit. The deal is more beneficial for EU fishermen, who land a bigger proportion of their catch in UK waters than Britain does in theirs.

How our trawlermen lose out British fishermen have suffered from EU rules and quotas that allow other member states to fish in UK waters. Nations that are not part of the EU have a 200-mile ‘Exclusive Economic Zone’ extending from their coastline, which stops other countries fishing nearby without consent. But EU states signed away their 200-mile zone in favour of a collective approach involving fish quota negotiations, under the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). Member states still have an exclusive 12-mile boundary, unless they have signed agreements stating otherwise. The UK loses out under the CFP as a disproportionate amount of fish is caught in the North Sea, which the UK would have greater access to with a 200-mile zone. Non-British vessels land an average of 58 per cent of the fish caught in UK waters, while British vessels catch only 21 per cent of theirs in non-UK waters. In 2015 EU vessels caught 683,000 tonnes of fish worth £484million in UK waters, compared with 111,000 tonnes worth £114million caught in EU member states’ waters. British fishermen also suffer from the quota system. In 2016 French fishermen were allowed to catch nearly three times the amount of Dover sole as their British counterparts, four times as much cod and five times as much haddock. Advertisement

Mr Gove, whose father’s fishing business closed down because of EU fishing policy, said yesterday that he would not ban foreign fishing in the six to 12-mile zone.

‘But what it is, is our deciding on which basis we allow people in,’ he added. ‘We can decide the terms of access.’

He told The Andrew Marr Show on BBC1: ‘When we leave the EU, we’ll become an independent coastal state, and that means that we can then extend control of our waters up to 200 miles, or the median line between Britain and France or Britain and Ireland, and that means that we then decide.’ He said the Common Fisheries Policy has been an ‘environmental disaster’ and that change is needed to ensure there are sustainable fish stocks for the future.

But ministers signalled that they had no intention of excluding EU fishermen in the long term and access to British waters is likely to become a key bargaining chip in future trade negotiations ahead of Brexit.

Fisheries minister George Eustice said that after Brexit Britain would be able to reach trade agreements with other countries. ‘The legal position is clear – once we leave the EU we take control,’ he told Pienaar’s Politics on BBC Radio 5 Live.

‘And it’s then for us to reach agreements for sharing of quotas and on access, so no, it doesn’t mean no access at all. It’s not an exclusion zone.

‘It simply means that whereas the EU decide now who has access to our waters, in future we will decide who has access.’

Mr Eustice said this meant foreign vessels would get access under future deals agreed by Britain rather than the EU, and any agreement would give the UK a fairer share of its fish.

France currently gets five times as much cod and haddock as Britain, twice as much plaice and three times as much Dover sole, he added.

‘That’s not fair and we’ve got an opportunity to rebalance that by trading future access for a fairer share of quotas.’