COVID-19 takes toll on UK fishing

Data published by Seafish shows that operating profit fell by 19% from GB£264m in 2019 to GB£214m in 2020. Turnover, which had been above the £1bn mark for the previous three years, fell to GB£843m. This is a 17% reduction.

Arina Motova, chief economist at Seafish, said: “The global pandemic has affected every part of our lives so it’s no surprise that the UK fishing fleet had a challenging year in 2020.”

She added: “These are top-line average figures and different parts of the fleet have had different experiences. For example, vessels normally supplying shellfish into hospitality markets were acutely affected. Overall nephrops trawlers and scallop dredgers saw fishing income drop by 39% in 2020 compared to 2019.

“Elsewhere those catching mackerel enjoyed higher quotas and relatively stable average prices.”

Income fell significantly

The total weight landed by the fleet was around 620,000 tonnes. This was close to the 2019 figure. However, fishing income fell from £990m in 2019 to £806m in 2020. This was due to lower levels of fishing activity and lower fish prices.

Operating costs decreased from GB£757m in 2019 to GB£629m in 2020. This fall in costs is attributed to lower levels of activity and reduced fuel prices. The total spent by the fleet on fuel in 2020 was an estimated GB£91m. This was 31% lower than in 2019. The average cost of fuel fell from 49.5 pence per litre in 2019 to 37.1 pence per litre in 2020.

Crew costs also decreased on the previous year, falling from GB£272m to GB£216m. With many workers on fishing vessels paid through crew share agreements this drop likely means a reduction in their incomes.

The total number of active fishing vessels fell from 4,548 in 2019 to 4,301 in 2020. More vessel operators licensed to fish opted to remain in the port in 2020. The number of inactive vessels grew to 1,692, a 16% increase on 2019.

The figures are based on preliminary landings data and the results of Seafish’s 2020 survey of the UK fishing fleet.