The UK will take an historic step towards delivering a fairer deal for our fishing industry by triggering our withdrawal from an agreement that has denied us control of our own fishing waters. This is one of the Government’s, and my, key objectives for Brexit. It is a once in a generation chance to regenerate UK fishing grounds and improve the conditions under which they are fished.

When we leave the EU, we will no longer be bound by the Common Fisheries Policy and, instead, we will have the opportunity to create a British Fisheries Policy that works for us, in control of our waters and our quotas, as an independent coastal nation.

By also withdrawing from the London Fisheries Convention, which predates our membership of the EU and would otherwise still have to be applied after we leave, we will no longer be bound by the existing access agreements for other European nations. Instead, we will take back control of fishing access to our waters and become fully responsible for the management of fisheries so that we can ensure a fair, sustainable and profitable industry for all our fishing communities. We will take full advantage of trade opportunities to drive global demand, and support the UK’s seafood trade with the EU and, most importantly, with the rest of the world.