Ben Stanstall/AFP via Getty Images UK prepares fishing industry compensation scheme for no-deal Brexit The government sees the need for a ‘seafood crisis intervention scheme’ if the UK departs the EU without a deal.

LONDON — The U.K. government is spending tens of thousands of pounds on an emergency cash-flow system to keep the fishing industry afloat in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has agreed a contract, unearthed using the Tussell government procurement database, with British-based tech firm Equiniti for a system to “disburse hardship funding.”

Britain exports most of the fish it catches, mainly to the EU. But new customs processes and border delays in the event of a no-deal Brexit could mean fresh fish rotting on land before it reaches the Continent. The industry is hoping for compensation from the government for any losses in that event.

The £49,000 contract to deliver a “seafood crisis intervention scheme” was agreed in October, with the project aimed for completion by the end of the year. The actual hardship funding has not yet been allocated, but a team is being formed to undertake the work.

Barry Deas, the chief executive of the National Federation for Fishermen’s Organisations, said: “It is good to hear that precautionary measures are being put in place to protect vulnerable parts of the U.K. fishing industry, should they be needed. We hope of course, that a smooth transition to the new, post-Brexit, arrangements will be achieved.”

“The continued mismanagement of the Brexit process by [Prime Minister] Boris Johnson could leave our seafood industry subject to export tariffs that could kill it stone dead" — Tom Brake, Lib Dems' Brexit spokesman

Tom Brake, the Brexit spokesman for the anti-Brexit Liberal Democrats, said: “The continued mismanagement of the Brexit process by [Prime Minister] Boris Johnson could leave our seafood industry subject to export tariffs that could kill it stone dead. The fact the Conservatives are preparing to compensate fisheries, if there is a no-deal is not just an embarrassing admission of their failure, but a wake-up call to us all about the prospect of a Johnson-led no deal.”

Johnson has promised to deliver the Withdrawal Agreement he struck with Brussels by January 31 if he wins the general election on December 12. But there is a chance Britain could still leave the EU without a deal if he fails to negotiate a future trading relationship before the end of the Brexit transition period in December 2020.

Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has promised to extend the Brexit deadline and negotiate a new deal with the EU, before putting it to the country in a referendum within six months if he wins the election.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs was unable to comment due to civil service rules governing the general election period.

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