Fishing and seafood must be treated as part of the UK’s critical national infrastructure, the APPG on Fisheries has said as it launched its Action Plan for a Thriving Sustainable UK Fishing Industry on 9 September.
The cross-party group called on ministers to set out a long-term strategy for the sector over the next 12 months that recognises its value as a food producing industry vital to the country’s food security.
Pointing to the over 350,000-tonne gulf between the fish and shellfish landed by UK vessels in 2024 (745,000 tonnes) and what the nation imported that year (1.1 million tonnes), it said reliance on global supply chains could “no longer be taken for granted”.
“For an island nation, we are strikingly blind to the value of our own seas,” said former Defra minister and independent parliamentary chair Daniel Zeichner. “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.”
“Yet we continue to look past it,” he added. “This action plan sets out a clear framework to address this.”
The action plan set out 38 recommendations, ranging from including fishing in food security assessments and food-system planning, to sustainability and “climate-smart” management, funding and investment.
The document’s also called for a dedicated minister for the marine and recognition of the cost pressures facing the sector, as well as an assurance it can access the same energy cost support afforded to others.
Its development was supported by a review board comprising industry stakeholders from across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as APPG’s expert panel of representatives from industry, academia, management, environmental and welfare organisations.
“UK fishing can deliver good jobs, resilient coastal and island communities, thriving local economies, improved food security, better health outcomes, and healthy marine ecosystems,” said APPG co-chairs Alistair Carmichael and Melanie Onn in a joint statement. “But to do this it needs support and a clear commitment from government to deliver the long-term strategy the sector needs.”
Mike Cohen, chief executive of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations, agreed, adding that unless UK fishing sector’s potential and was fully recognised and supported, “we will continue to be pushed from one challenge to the next”.
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