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BRIEFING PAPER

Number 2788, 5 December 2017

UK Sea Fisheries Statistics By Elise Uberoi

Contents: 1. Landings 2. Employment and Fleet Size 3. Overseas Trade 4. Sustainability 5. International Comparisons

2 UK Sea Fisheries Statistics

Contents Summary 3

1. Landings 4 1.1 Fish caught in UK waters 6

2. Employment and Fleet Size 7 2.1 Employment 7 2.2 Fishing Fleet 7

3. Overseas Trade 9

4. Sustainability 11

5. International Comparisons 13 5.1 Landings 13 5.2 Fleet 13

Appendix: data tables 16

Cover page image copyright: P8310001 by r4vi. Licensed by CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 / image cropped.

3 UK Sea Fisheries Statistics

Summary This briefing paper examines trends in the UK sea fishing industry, including landings, employment, fleet size, trade, and comparisons with other EU countries.

UK vessels land around 400,000 tonnes of fish each year in the UK, and between 200,000 and 300,000 tonnes abroad.

Landings by the UK fleet were down in 2016, around a 1% reduction on 2015. Reduced landings in pelagic fish account for much of this fall. The value of landings by the UK fleet has increased in recent years, to £936 million in 2016.

The total number of fishermen is around 12,000, down from around 20,000 in the mid-1990s. The number of fishing vessels in the UK fleet has fallen by 29% since 1996.

The UK is a net importer of fish, with net imports of around 290,000 tonnes in 2016, worth £1.4bn.

The UK fleet has the second-largest total catch (in terms of landed weight) and the second-largest fleet size (in gross tonnage terms) in the EU.

4 UK Sea Fisheries Statistics

1. Landings The amount of fish landed in Britain/ the UK by the home fishing fleet has seen an overall decline since 1895. The chart below and table 1 in the appendix show the long-term trend, displaying a clear pattern despite breaks in the series, and substantial variation.

Sources: B R Mitchell, British Historical Statistics;

OPCS, Annual abstract of statistics (various years);

Defra, United Kingdom Sea Fisheries Statistics 2004, Table 3.3;

Marine Management Organisation, UK Sea Fisheries Statistics (various years)

The tonnage of fish landed increased sharply from 553,000 tonnes in 1887 to 1.2 million tonnes in 1913. Following the disruption of the First World War, landings did not recover to their earlier levels, varying between 0.9 and 1.1 million tonnes in the period to 1938. Landings stayed around this level after 1945 until the early 1960s, when landings declined to below 0.8 million tonnes. They subsequently increased to peak at 1.0 million tonnes in 1973 (the year the UK joined the EU). Since then, landings have been in steady decline. Landings have stabilised at around 0.4 million tonnes since 2009; the lowest levels of any years outside the two world wars.

In 2016, total landings increased from 415,000 tonnes to 446,000 tonnes, an increase of 31,000 tonnes or 7%.

0

250

500

750

1,000

1,250

1895 1905 1915 1925 1935 1945 1955 1965 1975 1985 1995 2005 2015

British vessels into British Ports (excludes shellfish)

British vessels into British ports

UK vessels into UK ports

LANDINGS OF FISH IN GREAT BRITAIN/UK BY HOME FISHING FLEET Thousand tonnes

5 UK Sea Fisheries Statistics

The chart below and table 2 in the appendix give more detail about recent trends, showing landings by broad type of fish1, including fish landed abroad by the home fishing fleet.

Sources: Defra, United Kingdom Sea Fisheries Statistics 2004, Table 3.1a;

Marine Management Organisation, UK Sea Fisheries Statistics (various years)

The chart shows that shellfish catches have risen by 32% between 1994 and 2016, up to 151,000 tonnes.

The main decline in landings since 1998 has been in demersal fish. Demersal landings fell by 60% from 457,000 tonnes in 1998 to 180,000 tonnes in 2016, although this is up from a low of 149,000 tonnes in 2007. Within this group of fish, catches of whiting, haddock and cod have declined the most.

Landings of pelagic stocks had been steadily declining from 1994 to 2004, followed by an increase in 2005. This was followed by further decline, until 2014, when another large increase occurred. This took total pelagic landings from 292,000 tonnes to 437,000 tonnes, the highest landing of pelagic stocks over the past two decades. Since then, pelagic landings have declined again, to 369,000 tonnes in 2016.

Despite a long-term decline in total landings, the value of landings by the UK fleet (at home and abroad) has continued to increase. To illustrate this development, while the volume of the shellfish catch rose by 32% between 1994 and 2016, the value of the catch more than doubled in real-terms.2 The total value of landings was £936 million in 2016, a real-terms increase of 21% on 2015. The chart below shows the trend in the value of total landings by the UK fishing fleet, compared to the volume of total landings.

1 The main groups given are: demersal, pelagic and shellfish. Demersal fish cover

species living on or near the sea bed (including cod, plaice and haddock). Pelagic covers fish found mainly in coastal waters in shoals near the surface of the sea (including herring and mackerel).

2 Marine Management Organisation, UK sea fisheries statistics 2016; HM Treasury, GDP Deflator November 2017

Pelagic

Demersal

Shellfish

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

500

1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016

UK FLEET LANDINGS INTO THE UK AND ABROAD BY TYPE OF FISH Thousand tonnes

6 UK Sea Fisheries Statistics

Sources: Marine Management Organisation, UK Sea Fisheries Statistics (various years);

HM Treasury, GDP Deflator November 2017

1.1 Fish caught in UK waters Fishing boats from EU countries can fish in the waters of all EU countries. When looking at the UK’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) – an area defined in international law as extending up to 200 nautical miles from a country’s coast, in which that country is entitled to control fishing – a study by the NAFC Marine Centre at the University of the Highlands and Islands suggests that the majority of fish and shellfish was caught by EU boats.3 The study estimates that an average of 58% of fish and shellfish caught in the UK’s water was landed by fishing boats from other EU countries each year between 2012 and 2014. This is said to represent about 650,000 tonnes of fish and shellfish worth over £400 million each year. In the same period, UK fishing boats were estimated to have landed an average of 90,000 tonnes of fish and shellfish, worth £100 million, caught in other EU member states’ waters each year.

The Marine Management Organisation estimates that in 2015, UK fishing boats landed between 94,000 and 149,000 tonnes from the Exclusive Economic Zones of other EU member states, worth £90 -169 million.4 This suggests that about 16% of all fish and shellfish landed by UK vessels into the UK and abroad that year was caught in other EU member states’ waters.

3 Ian Napier, Fish Landings from the United Kingdom’s Exclusive Economic Zone, and UK

Landings from the European Union’s EEZ, University of the Highlands and Islands, October 2016. See also: Ian Napier, Fish landings from the United Kingdom’s Exclusive Economic Zone: by area, nationality and species, University of the Highlands and Islands, November 2016

4 Marine Management Organisation, Provisional statistics – UK fleet landings from other EU member states’ water: 2015

Total landings

Value

0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016

VALUE AND VOLUME OF LANDINGS INTO THE UK AND ABROAD BY THE UK FLEET

£m, 2016 prices/ thousand tonnes

7 UK Sea Fisheries Statistics

2. Employment and Fleet Size

2.1 Employment The total number of fishermen employed in the UK has fallen from just under 50,000 in 1938 to less than 12,000 in 2016. In 2016 there were 11,757 fishermen, a decrease of 350 since 2015. The chart below and table 3 in the appendix show total (both full time and part time) employment in the industry in various years since 1938.

Source: Marine Management Organisation, UK Sea Fisheries Statistics (various years)

The fastest period of decline, in terms of absolute numbers, was 1948 to 1970, when there was a fall of 26,000, or 55%. There was relatively little change in numbers between 1970 and 1995, but the downward trend subsequently resumed and the number of fishermen fell by around 41% between 1995 and 2016, and by around 9% in the ten years to 2016.

In 2016, 52% of UK sea fishermen were based in England and Wales, 41% in Scotland, and 7% in Northern Ireland.5

2.2 Fishing Fleet The decline in fishing manpower has also been reflected in the size of the fleet. The chart below and table 4 in the appendix show trends in the fishing fleet since 1996. At the end of 2016, the number of registered vessels stood at 6,191, an 8% fall since 2006. Vessel tonnage has declined by 13% over the same period.

5 Marine Management Organisation, UK Sea Fisheries Statistics 2016, Table 2.6

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

1938 1945 1952 1959 1966 1973 1980 1987 1994 2001 2008 2015

NUMBER OF FISHERMEN EMPLOYED (PART-TIMEAND FULL-TIME) IN THE UK, 1938-2016

8 UK Sea Fisheries Statistics

Source: Marine Management Organisation, UK Sea Fisheries Statistics (various years)

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016

NUMBER OF VESSELS

UK FISHING VESSELS

0

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

250,000

300,000

1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016

GROSS TONNAGE

9 UK Sea Fisheries Statistics

3. Overseas Trade The UK was a net exporter of fish in 1983, but has been a net importer since 1984. The main reason for this was the increase in imports during this period. In 2016, 730,000 tonnes of fish were imported, more than double the total in 1983. Both imports and exports have experienced year-on-year variation, but there has been an overall upward trend in imports which has not been matched by exports. The chart below shows trends in imports and exports of fish since 1983.

Sources: Maff, Sea Fisheries Statistical Tables, various years; Defra, United Kingdom, Sea Fisheries Statistics 2004; Marine Management Organisation, UK Sea Fisheries Statistics (various years)

The UK has spent more on imports than it has received for exports throughout the period shown in the table below. This was also the case in 1983, when the UK was a net exporter in quantity terms: the value of exports then was £204 million, while the value of imports was £505 million. In 2016, the value of net imports was £1.4bn.

In 2016, imports were highest for tuna (more than 120,000 tonnes), cod (120,000 tonnes) and shrimps and prawns (more than 80,000 tonnes). Main exports were salmon (more than 100,000 tonnes), mackerel (more than 80,000 tonnes) and herring (more than 40,000 tonnes).6

6 Marine Management Organisation, UK Sea Fisheries Statistics 2016, p8

0

100

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300

400

500

600

700

800

900

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Net imports Exports ImportsUK IMPORTS AND EXPORTS OF FISH, 1983-2016Thousand tonnes

10 UK Sea Fisheries Statistics

UK FISHING, GDP AND OVERSEAS TRADE2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

GDP for FishingGross value added (£million 439 465 481 468 472 582 489 506 529 615 610 682

Importsquantity (000s tonnes) 720 753 748 782 721 704 720 755 739 722 680 730value (£ million) 1,696 1,921 1,994 2,210 2,177 2,255 2,559 2,570 2,757 2,738 2,672 3,073

Exportsquantity (000s tonnes) 461 416 467 416 480 517 436 466 452 502 442 441value (£ million) 939 942 982 1,009 1,166 1,346 1,464 1,344 1,460 1,566 1,337 1,640

Net importsquantity (000s tonnes) 259 338 281 366 241 187 284 289 287 220 238 290value (£ million) 757 978 1,012 1,201 1,011 909 1,095 1,226 1,297 1,172 1,335 1,433

Notes: GDP for fishing includes landings abroad.Imports are valued at cost, including insurance and freight terms whereas exports are valued at free on board terms.

Sources: Maff, Sea Fisheries Statistical Tables , various yearsDefra, United Kingdom Sea Fisheries Statistics 2004Marine Management Organisation, UK Sea Fisheries Statistics (various years)

11 UK Sea Fisheries Statistics

4. Sustainability Each year the EU Council of Ministers sets a Total Allowable Catch for each fish stock and fishing area based on guidance from the Advisory Committee (ACOM) of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). This is then allocated as quotas to Member States in accordance with fixed percentages based on historic fishing rights.

The chart below summarises the annual ACOM assessments of the state of the main UK fish stocks according to ICES definitions.7

In summary the ICES assessment shows:

• Most cod stocks have been assessed as suffering reduced reproductive capacity, in most cases for each of the past ten years.

• Haddock stocks have been assessed as a single category for the third time, and are now at risk of suffering reduced reproductive capacity, having been harvested sustainably in the past two years.

• Sole assessments have varied widely:

7 North Sea Haddock and West of Scotland Haddock have been removed as

categories for 2014 and replaced with North Sea, Skagerrak and West of Scotland category. Old categories are included for indicative purposes

ICES ASSESSMENTS OF MAIN UK FISH STOCKS

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016CodNorth Sea Cod

West of Scotland Cod

Celtic Sea Cod

Irish Sea Cod

HaddockNorth Sea Haddock

West of Scotland Haddock

North Sea, Skagerrak & W Scotland

PlaiceNorth Sea Plaice

Irish Sea Plaice

SoleNorth Sea Sole

Irish Sea Sole

Eastern Channel Sole

Western Channel Sole

HerringNorth Sea Herring

MackerelNE Atlantic Mackerel

Assessment descriptionIndicates fish stocks:suffering reduced reproductive capacityat risk of suffering reduced reproductive capacityat full reproductive capacity but are either at risk of, or are, being harvested unsustainablyat full reproductive capacity and are being harvested sustainably

status unknown

Source: Marine Management Organisation, UK Sea Fisheries Statistics 2016

12 UK Sea Fisheries Statistics

─ Irish Sea sole have moved from those stocks being at full reproductive capacity in 2004 to suffering reduced reproductive capacity since 2007.

─ Eastern Channel sole stock was assessed at full reproductive capacity for 2006 and 2007, but is now at risk of being harvested unsustainably.

─ Western Channel sole was at risk of suffering reduced reproductive capacity in 2008. Recent re-assessment has shown that it is now at full reproductive capacity and harvested in a sustainable manner.

─ North Sea sole has recovered from suffering reduced reproductive capacity in 2007 and 2008, to be assessed as at full reproductive capacity since 2011.

• The assessments for plaice and herring show they are at full reproductive capacity and being harvested sustainably (where status is known); mackerel is at full reproductive capacity but is at risk of being harvested unsustainably.

4.1 Sea angling The sustainability of UK fish stocks is also affected by recreational fishing. Although data on how many fish are caught by anglers is not collected regularly, Defra carried out a study into the scope of sea angling in England in 2012.8

The study found that there were around 884,000 sea anglers in England, catching mostly mackerel and whiting. Anglers fishing on the shore released around 75% of the fish they caught, while boat anglers released around 50% of their catch. The table below shows estimates of the amount of bass and cod caught by sea anglers, and the amount they released back into the water.

8 Defra, Sea angling 2012 – a survey of recreational sea angling activity and economic

value in England, November 2013

2012, tonnes

Bass Caught 380-690Kept 230-440

Cod Caught 480-870Kept 430-820

Source: Defra, Sea Angling 2012, p2

ANNUAL CATCH BY SEA ANGLERS (SHORE AND BOAT)

13 UK Sea Fisheries Statistics

5. International Comparisons

5.1 Landings The chart below shows the total catches of the fishing fleets of selected EU and other countries in 2016 compared to 2005.9

The UK fleet had the third-largest catch of EU countries in 2005 (665,000 tonnes), behind Spain and Denmark; and the second-largest catch in 2016 (700,000 tonnes), behind Spain. However, non-EU states Iceland and Norway had markedly larger catches in both years.

Many European states have experienced a decline in the total volume of catches over the period shown. Of the countries shown below, only the UK, Spain, Poland and Finland registered an increase in landings between 2005 and 2016.

5.2 Fleet At the end of December 2016 the number of vessels in the UK’s fishing fleet was the seventh-largest in the EU after Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Croatia and France. The UK’s fishing fleet was third-largest in the EU in terms of gross tonnage. This latter measure is a better indicator of fishing capacity.

The chart below shows both the number of vessels and gross tonnage in selected EU and other countries in 2005 and 2016.10 Since 2005

9 Selected countries are the top 15 of the countries for which Eurostat compiles data 10 Selected countries are the top 15 of the countries for which Eurostat compiles data

Thousand tonnes2005 2016

Norway 2,392 1,873Iceland 1,661 1,070Spain 717 860United Kingdom 665 700Denmark 911 670France 586 525Netherlands 547 368Turkey 380 301Germany 264 241Ireland 267 230Sweden 255 198Poland 131 197Italy 294 193Portugal 219 181Finland 95 163

Source: Eurostat, Catches in all fishing regions

TOTAL CATCH, SELECTED EU AND OTHER COUNTRIES

14 UK Sea Fisheries Statistics

Norway’s fleet has fallen behind the UK’s in terms of the number of vessels, but remains just over twice as large in terms of gross tonnage.

Greece’s position as the country with the most fishing vessels, but with a relatively small gross tonnage, indicates a fleet consisting of a large number of smaller boats. The chart below compares the average vessel weight for all EU and selected other countries for which data is available from Eurostat.

2005 2016

Number of vessels

Greece 17,881 15,182Italy 14,396 12,271Spain 13,706 9,312Portugal 9,105 7,970Croatia Not available 7,627France 8,239 6,833United Kingdom 6,784 6,238Norway 7,722 5,946Finland 3,268 3,093Denmark 3,264 2,265Ireland 1,861 2,117Bulgaria Not available 1,910Iceland 1,752 1,647Estonia 1,044 1,557Germany 2,116 1,414

Thousand tonnes

Norway 369 391Spain 489 338United Kingdom 218 186France 220 173Italy 214 157Iceland 182 151Netherlands 171 132Portugal 107 94Greece 93 72Denmark 91 68Germany 64 64Ireland 88 63Croatia Not available 48Lithuania 65 41Poland 30 35

Source: Eurostat, Fishing fleet

FLEET SIZE (NUMBER OF VESSELS AND THOUSAND TONNES), SELECTED EU AND OTHER COUNTRIES

15 UK Sea Fisheries Statistics

Greece, along with countries like Cyprus, Slovenia and Bulgaria have a small average vessel weight.

The largest average weights are for Lithuania, Belgium and the Netherlands. Lithuania and Belgium both have small fleets in terms of numbers (142 and 72 respectively), whilst the Netherlands has a larger fleet of 843 vessels.

Of the major fishing nations, Iceland and Norway have the largest average fishing vessel weight, whilst the UK’s figure of 30 tonnes is closer to the EU average of 19.

Country Average weight

Lithuania 288Belgium 192Netherlands 156Iceland 92Norway 66Germany 45Latvia 42Poland 41Spain 36Denmark 30United Kingdom 30Ireland 30France 25Sweden 23Italy 13Portugal 12Estonia 9Romania 8Malta 7Croatia 6Finland 5Greece 5Cyprus 4Slovenia 4Bulgaria 3

EU average (28 countries) 19

Source: Eurostat, fishing fleet

AVERAGE FISHING VESSEL SIZE (TONNES), 2016, EU AND SELECTED OTHER COUNTRIES

16 UK Sea Fisheries Statistics

Appendix: data tables

Quantity (000 tonnes) Quantity (000 tonnes)

1890 598 1980 747.61895 669 1985 7621900 698 1990 6221905 958 1995 7261910 1,081 2000 4651915 405 2005 4921920 1,046 2006 4171925 963 2007 4401930 1,094 2008 4091935 993 2009 3931940 314 2010 4081945 492 2011 4001950 883 2012 3941955 953 2013 4051960 823 2014 4491965 902 2015 4151970 948 2016 4461975 842

Note: Data before 1958 excludes shellfish.

Data before 1988 is for British vessels in British ports.From 1988 data is for UK vessels in UK ports.

Sources: B R Mitchell, British Historical StatisticsOPCS, Annual abstract of statistics , various years

Defra, United Kingdom Sea Fisheries Statistics 2004 , Table 3.3

TABLE 1: LANDINGS OF FISH IN GREAT BRITAIN/UK BY HOME FISHING FLEET

Marine Management Organisation, UK Sea Fisheries Statistics (various years)

17 UK Sea Fisheries Statistics

TABLE 2: FISH LANDINGS BY THE UK FLEET INTO THE UK AND ABROAD, BY DEPARTMENT OF ADMINISTRATIONQuantity (thousand tonnes)

1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

United Kingdom 874.9 911.8 892.3 881.9 923.8 836.2 748.1 737.8 685.5 639.7 653.7 715.7 619.6 613.9 588.2 582.9 605.3 596.0 628.0 626.8 757.9 708.6 701.1Demersal 371.6 386.0 407.7 426.1 456.7 398.6 301.0 270.3 242.5 202.7 231.1 165.2 156.0 148.8 151.8 160.5 169.1 159.9 162.4 179.4 169.8 169.1 180.4

Pelagic 388.9 396.3 343.9 323.2 334.4 313.8 311.8 323.7 305.3 292.9 290.9 410.6 322.1 317.4 286.0 286.5 285.6 282.0 302.1 292.1 436.6 389.8 369.4

Shellfish 114.4 129.5 140.6 132.6 132.7 123.9 135.4 143.8 137.6 144.0 131.7 139.8 141.5 147.7 150.4 135.9 150.6 154.0 163.5 155.3 151.6 149.7 151.3

England and Wales 248.3 245.9 261.3 243.1 218.2 196.0 191.8 213.6 202.9 207.1 189.6 195.2 202.8 201.8 184.4 177.3 197.7 182.1 203.6 202.9 213.9 214.4 82.5

Demersal 115.7 117.2 118.5 120.7 106.5 89.6 82.7 79.9 72.8 64.2 64.5 61.5 58.9 56.3 48.9 54.0 60.5 63.0 64.7 74.8 79.1 75.8 64.8

Pelagic 72.0 59.3 61.3 51.9 42.0 41.4 37.1 54.8 55.5 60.8 58.2 58.7 74.7 80.3 66.9 72.4 77.3 61.8 71.1 59.8 66.2 68.5 64.3

Shellfish 60.6 69.4 81.5 70.5 69.7 65.0 72.0 78.8 74.6 82.0 66.9 74.9 69.2 65.2 68.6 50.9 59.9 57.3 67.7 68.3 68.7 70.1 211.5

Scotland 596.6 635.2 598.5 604.3 659.3 596.3 521.5 488.2 445.8 394.9 427.3 483.3 379.8 370.4 371.6 378.4 367.7 359.1 365.0 367.0 480.7 440.1 453.3

Demersal 242.9 257.0 276.6 293.0 332.6 291.8 208.7 180.4 159.0 129.8 159.7 99.8 94.2 89.3 99.7 103.6 106.0 94.8 95.8 102.1 88.7 90.8 95.4

Pelagic 308.9 327.5 271.7 258.3 273.3 255.6 260.7 254.3 234.6 212.2 212.8 328.3 226.0 214.2 206.9 205.4 189.2 192.3 199.7 202.6 330.4 291.5 294.4

Shellfish 44.8 50.7 50.2 53.0 53.5 48.9 52.1 53.6 52.1 52.9 54.8 55.3 59.6 66.9 65.0 69.4 72.5 72.1 69.5 62.3 61.6 57.8 63.6

Northern Ireland 27.4 27.9 30.0 32.3 43.4 40.6 30.4 32.0 33.5 35.0 34.1 35.3 35.5 39.6 30.0 24.9 37.7 47.1 51.6 49.4 57.3 47.8 29.4

Demersal 12.1 10.9 11.7 11.5 16.6 16.5 8.8 9.4 9.9 8.2 6.3 3.6 2.7 2.9 3.0 2.7 2.4 1.9 1.7 2.3 1.8 2.3 2.4

Pelagic 8.0 9.6 11.0 12.9 19.1 16.8 14.0 14.5 15.2 19.9 20.0 23.6 21.4 22.9 12.1 8.7 19.1 27.9 31.2 29.8 40.0 29.8 10.2

Shellfish 7.3 7.5 7.4 7.9 7.6 7.3 7.6 8.1 8.3 6.9 7.9 8.2 11.5 13.8 14.9 13.5 16.2 17.2 18.7 17.3 15.5 15.7 16.8

Islands 2.6 2.8 2.5 2.1 2.9 3.3 4.5 4.0 3.2 2.7 2.7 1.9 1.5 2.2 2.1 2.3 2.2 7.7 7.7 7.5 5.8 6.3 6.8

Demersal 0.9 0.9 1.0 0.9 1.0 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.8 0.5 0.6 0.4 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.2

Pelagic .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 0.0

Shellfish 1.7 1.9 1.5 1.2 1.9 2.6 3.7 3.3 2.5 2.2 2.1 1.5 1.3 1.9 1.9 2.1 1.9 7.5 7.6 7.4 5.7 6.1 6.6

Sources: Defra, United Kingdom Sea Fisheries Statistics 2004 , Table 3.1aMarine Management Organisation, UK Sea Fisheries Statistics (various years)

18 UK Sea Fisheries Statistics

TABLE 3: NUMBER OF FISHERMEN IN THE UK

Regular Part-time Total

1938 39,380 8,444 47,824

1948 38,826 8,821 47,647

1960 22,007 6,247 28,254

1965 19,601 6,273 25,874

1970 17,480 3,963 21,443

1975 17,061 5,073 22,1341976 16,830 5,740 22,5701977 16,337 6,143 22,4801978 16,467 6,418 22,8851979 16,590 6,069 22,659

1980 16,796 6,513 23,3091981 16,601 7,389 23,9901982 16,346 6,665 23,0111983 16,006 6,581 22,5871984 16,104 5,765 21,869

1985 15,962 6,262 22,2241986 16,906 5,728 22,6341987 17,153 5,271 22,4241988 17,095 5,225 22,320 (a)

1994 15,640 5,063 20,7031995 16,062 3,924 19,9861996 15,371 3,673 19,0441997 14,832 3,772 18,6041998 14,436 3,453 17,889

1999 13,864 3,032 16,8962000 12,399 3,250 15,6492001 12,145 2,813 14,9582002 11,442 2,763 14,2052003 10,204 2,918 13,122

2004 11,023 2,430 13,4532005 10,492 2,339 12,8312006 10,358 2,576 12,9342007 10,305 2,566 12,8712008 10,028 2,586 12,614

2009 10,129 2,083 12,2122010 10,172 2,531 12,7032011 10,040 2,365 12,4052012 10,283 2,162 12,4452013 10,245 1,990 12,235

2014 9,772 2,073 11,8452015 10,162 1,945 12,1072016 9,468 2,289 11,757

Note:

Source: Marine Management Organisation, UK Sea Fisheries Statistics (various years)

No data is available between 1989 and 1993 because of absence of data for England & Wales.

19 UK Sea Fisheries Statistics

At year end:

Number Gross Tonnage

1996 8,667 274,5321997 8,458 272,4211998 8,271 270,6441999 8,039 264,4532000 7,818 262,4062001 7,721 263,0402002 7,578 240,8982003 7,096 227,4492004 7,022 222,5292005 6,716 217,6172006 6,752 214,1812007 6,763 212,8162008 6,573 207,4232009 6,500 208,0252010 6,477 207,4242011 6,444 202,0482012 6,406 200,6972013 6,399 197,2832014 6,383 195,1212015 6,187 187,3712016 6,191 185,734

Source: Marine Management Organisation, UK Sea Fisheries Statistics (various years)

TABLE 4: UK FISHING FLEET SIZE

BRIEFING PAPER Number 2788 5 December 2017

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