What is the Fisheries Act?
The Fisheries Act is the first major new piece of national fishing legislation in the UK in nearly 40
years.
The Act started off as the Fisheries Bill: a proposal from Government that had to travel through
Parliament – between MPs and Lords – and be discussed, debated and edited until it was finalised.
This has been taking place across the past ten months, until the 23rd of November, when the Bill
received ‘Royal Assent’ and became an Act. (Before the Bill came the Fisheries White Paper – so this is the end of a process that started in summer 2018).
The Act gives the UK full, legal control of its own waters for the first time since 1973.
