Almost nine out of 10 Scots believe the UK should definitively control which vessels fish in its waters, while more than 80% think the European Union fleet should not be granted continued access to UK fishing grounds without tangible benefits being returned to the skippers and crew, a new survey has found.
The poll, commissioned by the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation (SFF) and conducted by research specialists Opinion Matters, comes as pressure mounts over future negotiations on fishing access with the EU.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer is scheduled to host a UK-EU Summit on 19 May 2025 in London, with fishing a high priority for the EU due to its disproportionate dependence on UK waters.
SFF highlighted that EU vessels catch GBP 450-500 million worth of fish annually in UK waters, compared with GBP 75 million caught by UK vessels in EU waters.
The poll reveals that 87% of people believe the UK should have full powers over which fleets fish in the UK Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), with just 3.2% disagreeing.
“These results send a strong signal to negotiators in Westminster and Brussels. The Scottish public are crystal clear – our fishing industry must not be sold short again,” SFF Chief Executive Elspeth Macdonald said. “During the last negotiations, access to our waters was given away too freely and we saw precious little in return. That cannot happen again. This poll confirms that Scots understand the value of fishing to our economy, our coastal communities and our national food security – and they expect their governments to stand up for those interests.”
The survey further found that 86% of Scots think any future UK-EU fisheries deal should place Scotland’s fishing interests at its heart.
Scotland’s fishing industry lands around two-thirds all fish and shellfish caught in the UK each year. It supports thousands of livelihoods across the country and forms the backbone of many coastal towns and villages. SFF said that despite this, the sector has too often been sidelined in previous deals – particularly during the Brexit transition, where insufficient gains in fishing opportunities were made in exchange for the EU securing multi-year access to Scottish and UK fishing grounds.
“We’ve long argued that the EU must follow through on the treaty that it signed in 2020 – that after 2026, access to waters becomes part of the annual negotiations on fisheries between the UK and EU,” Macdonald said.
“Annual negotiations on access are the international norm, and SFF fully supports and favours this approach. The EU signed up to this, but with the clock now ticking and the prospect of their fleet being unable to catch their quotas in their own waters after 2026, they are reneging on their treaty obligations and insisting on another multi-year deal.
“If the UK government is minded to capitulate to the EU’s demands on another multi-year deal on access for their fishing fleet; then they must extract a proportionate payment in commercially valuable fishing opportunities for our fleet in return, and this poll now shows that the Scottish public overwhelmingly agrees.”
She continued: “If EU member states want to keep benefiting from our rich fishing grounds, then that access must deliver clear and lasting benefits to Scotland’s industry. It’s now up to policymakers to act accordingly.”
The findings have been released as part of SFF’s wider efforts to ensure fishing is not only protected in future trade deals, but actively championed as a vital sector with significant potential for sustainable growth. The organisation argues that any future multi-year access agreement must be constructed with the long-term prosperity of Scotland’s fishing industry in mind.
