“Quota-hopping” and the foreign ownership of UK fishing vessels

This article examines the evolution of foreign ownership in the UK fishing fleet in the context of policy developments at European and national levels. We argue that the characterisation of all foreign ownership as “quota-hopping” is misleading because it oversimplifies the means by which foreign access to fish quotas has been obtained. The paper considers the incentives for foreign ownership and the likely economic impact on the UK. It is concluded that the net impact may be rather small, but that the issue nevertheless raises questions for the allocation of fishing rights under the European Communityʹs Common Fisheries Policy.