UK fishing demands long-term strategy

UK fishing is being urged to move from the margins of government policy to the heart of Britain’s food-security strategy, with the sector calling for a coherent long-term plan to protect fleets, jobs and coastal communities.

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Fisheries’ Action Plan for a Thriving and Sustainable UK Fishing Industry sets out 38 recommendations, arguing that domestic catching, processing and seafood trade form a strategically important part of the nation’s critical infrastructure.

“For an island nation, we are strikingly blind to the value of our own seas,” said former Fisheries Minister Daniel Zeichner MP.

“We have a vital domestic sector that helps feed the country, sustains coastal communities and is, in every meaningful sense, part of our critical national infrastructure.”

The warning comes as the UK remains heavily reliant on international seafood supply chains. UK vessels landed 745,000 tonnes of fish and shellfish in 2024, while more than 1.1 million tonnes of seafood were imported. The APPG argues that maintaining domestic fishing capacity provides strategic insurance against future geopolitical or supply-chain shocks.

The action plan highlights mounting pressures across the industry, including fuel and energy costs, limited access to sea space, environmental change, workforce shortages and regulatory complexity. Fishermen described the combined pressures during the inquiry as a ‘perfect storm’ and ‘death by a thousand cuts’.

Among its key recommendations, the APPG calls for a dedicated Minister for the Marine with cross-departmental responsibility and for fishing and seafood businesses to receive energy-cost support comparable with other sectors.

APPG co-chairs Alistair Carmichael MP and Melanie Onn MP said fishing could deliver ‘good jobs, resilient coastal and island communities, thriving local economies, improved food security’ and healthier marine ecosystems, but requires sustained government commitment.

Mike Cohen, chief executive of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations, said the industry had ‘huge potential’ but warned that without a government-led strategy, it would continue moving ‘from one challenge to the next’.

The action plan covers fleets, infrastructure, technology, skills, supply chains, sustainability, science, investment and domestic seafood consumption.