⁍ The EU and Britain are trying to hammer out an agreement over the next three weeks to avoid damaging $900 billion in annual trade when Britain leaves the bloc’s single market on Jan. 1, 2021.

---

⁍ France has a total of 20,000 fishermen, on top of 10,000 fish processing jobs.

---

⁍ On average in 2011-2015, some 98,000 tonnes of fish were caught in British waters, representing 171 million euros in turnover and 2,566 direct jobs.

---

– As Britain prepares to exit the European Union in two years, the main sticking point is how to handle the huge amount of fish that will continue to be caught in British waters after that date. The BBC reports that Britain wants to keep access to its market of 450 million consumers open after Brexit, but the EU is balking at the idea. France, for instance, wants any agreement to allow it to continue to fish in British waters, and sources tell Reuters that France’s government has told the country’s fishing industry to prepare for a smaller catch after 2021. “They were blunt, too. They said it won’t be the same as before. For me it’s clear, they just want to try to limit damages as much as possible,” says Jerome Vicquelin, a member of a fishing lobby group who attended a meeting with government officials in Paris. A source tells Reuters that the government has asked the industry what concessions it might be willing to make. “They asked us to think about it,” the source says.