Fishermen warn bad Brexit trade deal could wipe them out

Scotland's smaller fishing crews, often operating from remote communities, feel they have been ignored in talks.

Scotland’s smaller fishermen say they could be wiped out if a Brexit deal makes their catch more expensive to sell overseas or delays their exports to EU countries.

The crews of boats operating from often remote communities claim their voices have been ignored during talks.

The UK’s efforts to negotiate a better deal for the industry remains a major hurdle in reaching a trade deal ahead of an EU summit later this week

Fishing forms less than 0.1% of the UK economy.

However, during Brexit talks it has come to symbolise the drive to take back control of what the UK fleet can catch in British waters.

Inshore fishermen ply their trade within 12 nautical miles of the coast and make up around three quarters of the Scottish fleet.

They feel the negotiations have prioritised quotas and access to waters and sidelined their concerns.