Vessel owners and skippers around the UK are being asked to participate in research to gather data on the financial and operational performance of the UK fishing fleet.
Researchers from Seafish will canvas fishermen on how they see the industry, its future and the challenges they face amongst a changing political environment, increasing weather variability and a public focus on sustainable and responsibly sourced seafood.
Steve Lawrence, economics project manager at Seafish, said: “It’s vital we paint an accurate picture of the economic performance of the fishing industry and find out the biggest achievements and challenges fishers have met over the past year.
“This insight means we can keep all those involved in the sector fully informed on the health of the fleet. The report is also made available to policy makers and it is a good opportunity for fishermen to voice their opinion on the big issues affecting them.”
Upward trend continued?
Seafish said there is hope the 2018 Fleet Survey will reveal more positive news for the fishing industry after a strong performance in 2017 which saw total fishing income for UK vessels rising by GB£38m. This was mainly driven by higher prices for many shellfish species.
Despite a rise in income, many fishermen highlighted the availability of fish, access to quota, fuel price, weather and other issues as potential threats to their businesses and their financial performance.
The findings from the Fleet Survey, to be published in 2019, have the potential to influence policy and give an accurate insight into the health of the fishing industry.
All vessel owners can benefit directly from participation by requesting a free financial performance benchmark report which allows comparisons with the average performance of other similar vessels.
No individual vessel figures will be revealed in any report.
