Brexit was welcomed by many in the UK fishing industry, but overwhelmingly it is now a cause for anger and disappointment. So says a report from the House of Commons All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Fisheries, which sets out the results of a survey of the sector.
As well as the issue of quotas for wild-catch fisheries, the report finds, the UK’s seafood industry has been struggling with increased paperwork for exports to the European Union and labour shortages following new restrictions on recruiting staff from the EU.
In winter 2021, the APPG on Fisheries released a survey to collate experiences of Brexit as reported by members of the fishing industry. Responses revealed significant and shared concerns around financial losses and the long-term viability of individual businesses, fishing fleets, and other parts of the industry including processors and transporters.
Exporters have routinely struggled to get their shipments through the border, resulting in loss of income or, in extreme cases, entire markets, while small-scale fishers have felt unable to compete with larger EU vessels which have retained some access to UK waters until at least 2026.
One respondent reported, for example, that “sales to the EU have fallen by 65-70% on molluscs and at least 60% on live crustaceans and remaining sales have been to wholesalers instead of bespoke, smaller, more profitable merchants and retailers. The economics of these [formerly] more profitable smaller sales have been destroyed by costs such as health certification, customs checks, and VAT agents’ fees”.