It’s time ministers saw our ability to feed ourselves from the sea as a strategic asset
Whitby in 2026 (Glyn Fletcher/Alamy)
4 min read
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.
I saw how easily the machinery of government... overlooks fishing’s productive contributions
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.
Daniel Zeichner is Labour MP for Cambridge, former Defra minister and chair of the APPG on Fisheries’ Action Plan
