LONDON, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Britain wants a separate
agreement on fishing alongside its free trade deal with the
European Union, with annual negotiations on dividing up the
total catch, according to the government's negotiating mandate
published on Thursday.
The government said the agreement must respect Britain's
status as an independent coastal state from the end of this
year, and cover access to UK and EU waters, fishing
opportunities and future cooperation on fisheries management.
"Fishing opportunities should be negotiated annually based
on the best available science for shared stocks," the document
said.
Britain said it would no longer accept the existing
"relative stability" mechanism for sharing fishing quotas as it
was outdated. Instead the government wants to use the principal
of zonal attachment which it said better reflects where fish
live and is the basis for the EU's fisheries agreement with
Norway.
(Reporting by Kylie MacLellan, editing by William James)