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| Fishing and Seafood should be treated as Critical National Infrastructure, says Fisheries APPG |
Launching its Action Plan for a Thriving and Sustainable UK Fishing Industry at the historic Fishmongers’ Hall on the evening of 9 September, the APPG on Fisheries called on Government to treat fishing and seafood as part of the UK’s critical national infrastructure.
The cross-party Group urged ministers to set out a coherent, long-term strategy for the sector in the next twelve months, recognising its strategic value as a food-producing industry vital to national food security.
The Group argues that a resilient seafood system – spanning domestic catching, processing and trade – is vital to the UK’s food security, and that a healthy domestic fishing industry is a strategic asset within that system. In 2024, UK vessels landed 745,000 tonnes of fish and shellfish, while the UK imported more than 1.1 million tonnes of seafood. While much of the domestic catch is exported and many imports reflect UK consumer preferences, this gap points to a reliance on global supply chains that recent geopolitical events have shown can no longer be taken for granted. The Government itself has acknowledged that, while the UK is currently food secure, the conditions underpinning that security are shifting. Preserving the capacity to feed the nation from its own waters, says the APPG, offers strategic insurance against future shocks.
Daniel Zeichner Labour MP for Cambridge, former Defra minister and chair of the APPG on Fisheries’ Action Plan
In 2024, UK fishing vessels landed around 745,000 tonnes of fish and shellfish. At the same time, we imported more than 1.1 million tonnes of seafood. Fishing is part of our national story. But for an island nation, we too often fail to see the value of our own seas. I saw this as Defra minister, with fisheries as part of my brief – one complex policy area among several others, including farming, food security and rural affairs, competing for attention.
I say this not to criticise colleagues but because I know the reality of finite time and resources. In that role, and before it as shadow minister, I met with people who fish around our coasts – who put food on tables here and around the world, who sustain coastal and island communities from Cornwall and Grimsby to Kilkeel and Shetland, and who underpin a seafood economy that is part of a rather remarkable food system. I also saw how easily the machinery of government – even with very good people working on this brief – overlooks fishing’s productive contributions, mostly without meaning to. Perhaps if we viewed the sector as a strategic asset, this would be different.
That weakness is what the APPG on Fisheries’ new Action Plan for a Thriving and Sustainable UK Fishing Industry sets out to correct. Drawing on evidence from fishermen and women around the UK’s coasts, this cross-party plan calls on government to publish a coherent, long-term strategy for UK fishing and the wider seafood sector, as part of the commitment it has made to deliver a Sustainable Ocean Plan next year. This should be developed in partnership with the devolved administrations and industry stakeholders, and recognise the sector’s strategic importance to the resilience of our food system.
We export much of what we catch and import much of what we eat – this is part of the reality of a globally integrated seafood economy. We should be honest about that. But our landings also point to a significant source of food if those supply chains are disrupted – as we have seen, by pandemic and geopolitical shocks, and as they increasingly will be by the strain climate change and biodiversity loss are placing on food systems worldwide. Government itself acknowledges that while the UK is food secure for now, the conditions underpinning that security are shifting. Within this context, the ability to feed the nation from the seas around us is a strategic asset.
Of course, this asset depends on our domestic catching capacity. On active fishing boats around our coasts, on skippers and crews to go to sea, and on productive and sustainably managed waters to be there when they are needed. This makes a diverse, sustainable, working UK fishing fleet a matter of national food security.
During our inquiry, those across the sector were very frank about the pressures facing fishing. Rising costs, shifting stocks, management issues, competition for space at sea, a workforce crisis… all layered over years to create a “perfect storm” and real pressure on the people working in it. In the face of these issues, the call for support we heard was remarkably modest – to be recognised for their contribution and supported by government in line with other food-producing and economic sectors.
This is the gap the action plan fills. It offers a practical framework of 38 recommendations built with the sector, across parties and nations, designed as a package and ready for government to act on. We have evidence and broad consensus, but are still failing to recognise properly the significance of the sector to our food system’s resilience. This is the chance to change that.
For an island nation, we have looked past our own seas for too long. We would not accept this about the land that feeds us. And we should not accept it about the waters that do either.
“I saw how easily the machinery of government... overlooks fishing’s productive contributions”
