Legal background London Fisheries Convention
The LFC provides certain EU Member States a right of access for their boats to fish for certain species in certain areas of UK and Crown Dependency territorial waters within 6 to 12 nautical miles from the coast.
	It was concluded in 1964, before the UK joined the EU, and before subsequent international agreements (in particular, UNCLOS) established definitively which rights coastal States could exercise in their territorial seas and Exclusive Economic Zones.
	The Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France and Ireland can fish for certain species in certain areas of UK and Crown Dependency territorial waters under the agreement, whilst UK boats have access to certain areas and for certain species 6 to 12 nautical miles from the coast of the Netherlands, Germany, France and Ireland.
	The Fishery Limits Act 1964 provided a power for Ministers to give effect to other states’ rights (such as rights under the LFC) of access to fish within British fishery limits (at that time extending to 12 nautical miles from the coast) by making orders designating which countries could fish within these waters. The 1964 Act was repealed and replaced by the Fishery Limits Act 1976, which extended British fishery limits to 200 nautical miles and contained a similar power for Ministers to designate which countries could fish within these new limits. This power was used to provide for access to fish in accordance with the provisions of the LFC. Rights of access under the LFC are also included in Annex 1 to the Basic CFP Regulation (1380/2013), except those rights that relate to the Crown Dependencies.
	Article 15 of the LFC permits parties to withdraw from the LFC by giving two years’ notice. On 3 July 2017, as part of the wider process of becoming an independent Coastal State, the UK formally gave notice of its intention to withdraw from the LFC as soon as it ceased to be a Member State. The UK’s participation in the LFC therefore formally ends on 31 January 2020. It will continue to comply with the access arrangements set out in the CFP Regulation until the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020.