Brexit and Scottish Fishing

A few years ago, the BBC's Coast program did a segment on fishing in Northeast Scotland. The presenter interviewed several Scottish fishermen about the impact of European Union fishing regulations upon their livelihood. Yesterday, NPR ran a segment on Brexit's impact on French fishing, eighty percent of which takes place in British waters. Some casual Googling yielded three interesting articles.

Scottish fishermen given Brexit assurance

Scottish government says UK is right to leave fishing deal

Brexit: Gove confirms foreign access to UK fishing grounds

I'll be honest: watching from afar, I'm torn on Brexit. I listen to Around Orkney most mornings, and there's been no shortage of news reports about how difficult Scottish farmers have it under the European Union. The fishing example is another big example of this: Scottish fishermen have seen their livelihood threatened by EU fishing restrictions, but we're supposed to be concerned about the livelihood of French fishermen and their French customers who may no longer be able to take eighty percent of their daily haul out of British waters. And the European Union might impose harsh tariffs on British industry as a result. A few weeks ago, I also saw an article about the European Union banning loud and/or inefficient vacuum cleaners. Recognizing that there are very real practical concerns about how Brexit will impact both United Kingdom subjects and Europeans, it seems like these concerns stem in large part from proverbial "too big to fail" root causes.

I dunno. I realize this post really isn't very coherent, but that's how confusing this Brexit business is. For all the wailing and gnashing of teeth, it seems like stuff like this fishing issue would have made it difficult for some folks not to vote "yes" on this thing. Then again, the unknowns make it pretty easy to sympathize with those who thought that the nebulous drawbacks outweighed the potential benefits of a "yes" vote.