On 1 January 2021, the UK abandoned the Common Fisheries Policy −the joint EU legal framework that provides Member States with equal access to EU waters, as well as stable arrangements for quota sharing and sustainable resource management.
By abandoning the Common Fisheries Policy, the UK becomes an independent coastal state. This changes the landscape of fisheries management in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean and in the North Sea.
The EU and the UK will be responsible, under international law, for the joint management of approximately 100 shared fish stocks.
The waters of the United Kingdom (i.e., the territorial sea up to 12 nautical miles and the adjacent exclusive economic zone up to 200 nautical miles) will cease to be part of EU waters. In the absence of any provision to the contrary, access to each other's waters would no longer be guaranteed.
