ALBERT

Description: Highlights; • Brexit provides a unique opportunity to develop a fisheries policy that will lead the world in sustainable use of marine ecosystems. • The COVID-19 slowdown has reduced fishing pressure to levels not seen since WW2 and is an opportunity to kick-start recovery of depleted stocks. • The concept of Maximum Sustainable Yields has been misused resulting in the degradation of stocks so that many are currently threatened. • Marine fisheries represent only 0.12% of UK economic output, risking the opportunity to advance sustainability during wider trade negotiations. • This article provides recommendations for a policy to deliver sustainable resource management and conservation to benefit future generations. Abstract: Brexit creates a systemic shock that provides a unique opportunity for the UK to implement a new sustainable Fisheries Policy to better manage the multiple stocks on which future fishers will depend on leaving the European Union. At the same time, the global slowdown of commercial fishing as a result of COVID-19 has reduced pressure on some threatened stocks to levels not seen since the Second World War. In combination, Brexit and the COVID-19 slowdown have created a unique opportunity to facilitate the recovery of a threatened resource. Nevertheless, challenges remain as fisheries represent only 0.12% of UK economic output, presenting a risk that opportunities for more sustainable management will be lost during wider trade negotiations. Reduced fishing pressure during the COVID-19 era will enable stocks an opportunity to recover if supported by a new UK Fisheries Policy that focuses on: (a) re-establishing the role of Maximum Sustainable Yield to set limits that enable the recovery of fish populations initiated during the COVID-19 era; (b) ensuring that catch targets are set with the aim to maintain biomass at 120% of that which will achieve Maximum Sustainable Yield; (c) improving coherent resource management that also considers the expensive use of carbon associated with unsustainable fishing, and the need to protect fish throughout their life-cycle; and (d) constructing and effectively enforcing protection of a resilient network of Marine Protected Areas despite potential protests from EU member states.