Gone fishing?

The Marine Bill comes before parliament today and yesterday the latest statistics were published on the state of the UK marine fishing industry. It is a good example of a sector in long term structural decline affected greatly by EU fishing quotas and also by the collapse in fish stocks brought about by over-fishing in years gone by.

Some snippets on the industry

Since 2006 the number of UK fishing vessels has fallen by 21 per cent - as the industry has sought to reduce over-capacity

There has been a fall of 32 per cent in the number of fishermen over the same period although that figure seems to be stabilising - students might be asked to discuss the types of unemployment created by this loss of jobs and the impact on the local areas partly dependent on fishing as a key source of employment

The UK has 8 per cent of the EU fishing fleet and 12 per cent of the total EU catch

In 2006, the UK fleet landed 21 thousand tonnes of cod (one quarter of the 1996 level) and 40 thousand tonnes of haddock (less than half of the 1996 level).

Since 2002, mackerel landings have almost halved while herring landings have increased by 50 per cent.

Fish imports have grown by a fifth since 2002 and the value of UK exports has declined by 13 per cent

The decline in our maritime fishing sector is shown by the fact that we are now a major net importer of fish and fish processed products