The United Kingdom (UK) government on Sunday announced its withdrawal from a fishing arrangement made with other countries allowing them to fish within the UK waters. The London Fisheries Convention [text], originally signed in 1964, allowed Irish, Dutch, French, German, and Belgian ships to fish within six tothe twelve nautical miles of each other’s coastlines. According to Environment Secretary Michael Gove [official profile], the withdrawal will allow [Guardian report] the UK to take back control of fishing waters, regulate future fishing stocks and establish the UK as an “independent coastal state” since its withdrawal from the European Union (EU). Due to the withdrawal, UK ships will also lose the right to fish in waters six to twelve nautical miles offshore from the other countries.

In March the UK Parliament [official website] passed [JURIST report] the Brexit bill [text] which announced UK’s plan to withdrawal from the EU and began the negotiation process. The process to leave the convention will take about two years. That same month, UK High Court judges dismissed a suit [JURIST report] that claimed members of parliament should be allowed to vote on whether Britain will leave the European Economic Area. In June, the majority of UK voters had expressed their desire [JURIST report] to leave the EU causing the resignation of former prime minster David Cameron.