With the clock ticking down, the United Kingdom and the European Union have finally agreed to a free trade deal a week before the Brexit transition period ends and 4 1/2 years since Britons voted in a landmark referendum to leave the EU.
The two sides were able to reach agreement by resolving a difficult dispute over fishing. The issue: how much to reduce European fleets’ share of the catch in British fishing grounds in the coming years?
Fish account for less than 1% of the British economy, but played an outsize role in negotiations. The winning campaign slogan from the 2016 Brexit referendum was to “take back control” from the EU and that included fishing grounds.
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