UK Fisheries Policy Post-Brexit: Multi-level Challenges and Opportunities

脱欧决定将对英国一系列政策的实施方式产生深远影响。渔业政策是一个可能发生重大变化的政策领域的一个最恰当的例子。自1973年英国加入欧洲经济共同体(EEC)以来，共同渔业政策(CFP)一直在管理渔业。当脱欧程序完成后，CFP将不再适用于英国。事实上，英国将负责管理自己的领海。让事情进一步复杂化的是，苏格兰、威尔士和北爱尔兰的权力下放机构在法律上负责渔业。因此，人们可能会假设，一旦英国退出欧盟，苏格兰政府将监管苏格兰领海。然而，有人建议，为了实行有效率和有效的渔业政策，英国政府不妨将渔业管理权从下放的机构手中收回。然而，收回下放的权力，特别是在苏格兰独立辩论的背景下，在政治上将是非常有争议的。本项目审查了根据欧盟对联合王国及其下放政府的权限重新调整而制定有效政策的需要与当前权力下放的政治现实之间的这种紧张关系。该项目以渔业为例，旨在通过探索在英国退欧后改变政策现实的必要性，为多层次治理和重新调整的学术文献做出贡献。除了研究英国的内部动态，该项目还旨在将目光投向海外，看看挪威、冰岛和法罗群岛，这些国家和领土在欧盟之外，但管理着自己的领海，每年都会与彼此和欧盟谈判，设定在欧洲周围特定海域可以捕捞的鱼类数量。了解这些国家的行为者如何组织渔业政策将有助于项目团队开发一个最佳实践模式，以便政府官员、政治家和渔业本身能够学习和采纳这些经验教训，以便尽可能顺利和容易地从CFP过渡。该项目还旨在与英国各地的渔业社区接触，举办公共参与活动，让这些社区的成员了解脱离欧盟对渔业及其社区意味着什么。在这些活动中，将举行一系列圆桌会议焦点小组，以便渔业社区成员可以就离开CFP的过程和结果发表意见。最后，该项目旨在通过在阿伯丁大学和苏格兰西部大学本科生和研究生教学之间建立密切联系，以及开发新的电子学习平台，促进学生、政策制定者和广大公众之间的学习和讨论，从而留下教育遗产。

The decision to leave the EU will have a profound effect on the way in which a multitude of policies are implemented in the UK. Fishery policy is a most pertinent example of a policy area that is likely to undergo significant changes. The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) has regulated the fishing industry since the UK joined the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1973. When the process of leaving the EU is complete, the CFP will no longer apply to the UK. Indeed, the UK will be responsible for governing its own territorial waters. To complicate matters further, the devolved institutions in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are, legally, responsible for fisheries. Therefore, one would presume that once the UK leaves the EU, the Scottish Government will oversee Scottish territorial waters, to take one example. However, it has been suggested that in order to run an efficient and effective fishery policy the UK Government may wish to repatriate powers over fisheries away from the devolved institutions. However, repatriation of devolved competencies, particularly in the context of a Scottish independence debate will politically be very controversial. This project examines this tension between the need to develop efficient and effective policy in the light of the rescaling of competencies from the EU to the UK and its devolved governments and the challenging political reality of the current devolution settlement.In this light, one of the objectives of this project is to analyse and understand the interaction between different levels of government in the UK in the context of fisheries policy. Using fisheries as a case study, the project aims to contribute to the academic literature on multi-level governance and rescaling by exploring the need to alter policy realities in a post Brexit UK. Besides examining the UK's internal dynamics, the project aims to look overseas to Norway, Iceland and the Faroe Islands; states and territories who are outside the EU but who govern their own territorial waters and who negotiate with each other and the EU every year to set the amount of fish that can be caught in particular parts of the seas around Europe. Understanding how actors in these countries organise fishery policies will help the project team develop a model of best practice so that government officials, politicians, and the fishing industry itself can learn and adopt these lessons in order to make the transition away from the CFP as smooth and easy as possible.The project also aims to engage with fishing communities across the UK, holding public engagement events to inform members of these communities about what leaving the EU means for the fishing industry and their communities. At these events, a series of roundtable focus groups will be held so that members of fishing communities can have their say on the process and outcome of leaving the CFP. Finally, the project aims to leave an educational legacy by forging close links between the University of Aberdeen and the University of the West of Scotland undergraduate and postgraduate teaching, as well as the development of new E-Learning platforms that facilitate learning and discussion between students, policymakers and the wider public.