Fishing and Seafood Sector Strategy

Luke Myer Excerpts

Tuesday 10th November 2026 Westminster Hall

[Luke Myer (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Sir Roger. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Cambridge (Daniel Zeichner) on securing this debate and on his report.

In my region, our identity is shaped by our coastline. From the old fishing villages of Staithes and Skinningrove through to the port at the Tees, the sea has shaped our economy, our identity and the character of our communities, so I welcome this debate and the call for a national fishing and seafood strategy. I will illustrate some of the points made in the debate by adding two experiences from my constituency.

The first concerns a fishermen from Easington, who came to see me at my surgery earlier this year. He operates commercially out of Whitby, and for three years he had been trying unsuccessfully to obtain a licence to catch bluefin tuna. I have to confess that before coming to this place, I did not think a great deal about the geographical distribution of licences for bluefin tuna fishing, but I soon discovered that it was a source of considerable frustration for fishermen in the north-east, who felt that opportunities were disproportionately concentrated on the south coast. Here was a hard-working local businessman who wanted to diversify his trade and invest in his future, but who had spent three years trying to secure the necessary permission.

I wrote to DEFRA and to the Northumberland Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority, to express this man’s concerns. In July, I was pleased to hear from him that he had finally secured his licence, which he understood to be the only one awarded locally that year. That was a good outcome, but it left me wondering why it took three years, the intervention of an MP and correspondence with different public authorities just for a fisherman to get the opportunity to do what he does best. I hope that any national strategy will look seriously at such barriers, so that we can encourage small fishing businesses to diversify and grow, and not make their lives unnecessarily difficult.

[Torcuil Crichton]

I sympathise with the plight of my hon. Friend’s constituent, because one of my constituents faced the same problem with planning for a tuna fishery, having a licence granted one year, but not getting it granted another.

[Luke Myer]

I will discuss my second issue briefly. It was a national story. For those unfamiliar with what happened, in 2021 an enormous number of dead crustaceans were washed up on our beaches, followed by a collapse in catches of as much as 80%, by some fishermen’s estimates.. That was devastating for the local industry; boats were sold and businesses closed. The most troubling thing is that, five years later, we still do not have a definitive explanation of what happened. That battle for truth has been documented in a new film, “All Rivers Spill Their Stories to the Sea”, and we will hold a screening of it in Parliament for parliamentarians shortly. I encourage all Members to attend.

I pay tribute to the local authorities who came together to establish a working group to look into the issue. I pay particular tribute to Councillor Philip Thomson and former Councillor Rachel Creevy for working across parties to drive forward that agenda. Will the Minister look into the findings published by that working group to see whether lessons can be learned by Government? I echo the call of my hon. Friend the Member for Cambridge for science funding to be a pillar of the strategy. Ultimately, if we want to restore confidence among those in the industry, we must demonstrate that our fishermen’s knowledge is valued, and that when issues arise, they will be thoroughly investigated and those directly affected can shape and direct what happens next.

Our fishing communities do not lack ambition; what they need is a Government who are prepared to work alongside them to remove unnecessary obstacles and safeguard their environment, and to give them a greater say in the decisions that shape their future. I hope that that is the ambition that guides this strategy, which we hope to see in the near future.

[Sir Roger Gale (in the Chair)]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson. Mr MacDonald, you have about eight minutes.

--- Later in debate ---

[Stephen Morgan]

I am coming on to the points that the hon. Member made, but my interest in the negotiations and the summit is to protect UK interests. That is the absolute priority of this Government.

I have spoken to the fishing industry to hear its priorities, and I have taken them into account when setting out our approach to the negotiations. From previous exchanges in the House and with Members, I am aware of concerns about the level of fishing in UK waters by Norwegian trawlers. That is reciprocal, and I know there are UK vessels that appreciate the arrangement’s flexibility. I heard about that when I met the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation in Fraserburgh in August, and stakeholders raised it again ahead of the negotiations with Norway. The negotiations began in October, and I will seek to get the best possible deal. There are also difficult discussions and decisions on balancing the long-term sustainability of northern shelf cod with providing for the needs of our coastal communities in 2027. Addressing that is a priority of mine in trilateral negotiations with the EU and Norway, and I have spoken about it with UK stakeholders in recent weeks. We will continue to engage closely with the fishing industry to identify the best ways forward.

Of course, to support healthy fish stocks, we must prioritise a healthy and productive marine environment, as my hon. Friend the Member for Rotherham (Sarah Champion) rightly raised, and I am working to balance the decisions on that with ensuring that the fishing industry remains sustainable. That includes marine protection, and I am mindful of the commitment to put in place stage 3 byelaws before the end of this year. Those byelaws would be substantial and could close 13% of English waters to bottom trawling. I do not want to place any unnecessary restrictions on industry, so given the potential impacts for the fishing industry, it is important that we take time to get this right.

We are also working at pace to finalise arrangements for a new SPS deal, which will make it easier and cheaper to export seafood to the EU. More details on that will follow shortly, as part of the EU-UK summit later this month. Work is continuing to deliver funding. Currently, that is through the fisheries and seafood scheme, but we are also shaping, with the industry and others, the longer-term delivery of the fishing and coastal growth fund.

On cost pressures and similar issues raised by Members, I recognise the genuine hardship that high, volatile fuel prices are causing, as well as the concerns about competition from EU vessels that may have benefited from temporary fuel-related support. There is support via the existing tax system, and we have recently announced funding for new, more efficient engines and gearboxes. I am listening to fishing communities to understand the pressures that they face, and I am looking at all options.

My hon. Friend the Member for St Austell and Newquay (Noah Law) made a number of helpful points. I recognise that access to the UK’s six to 12 nautical mile zone is an important issue for the inshore fleet, particularly where there are concerns about pressure from larger vessels due to EU activity. I heard that message loud and clear during my time in Penzance and Newlyn. My hon. Friend is right to raise those concerns, and I assure him that I will continue to have those discussions. Any new management measures would need to respect the UK’s international obligations and be evidence-based. I am very happy to meet him on those points.

[Luke Myer]

Will the Minister write to me with the Government’s reflections on the mass crustacean die-off that affected Teesside, following the publication of the report of the working group formed by local authorities in my region?

[Stephen Morgan]

I thank my hon. Friend for his work on these important matters. I can go one better: I am very happy to meet him to discuss the issues in further detail.

On labour and workforce challenges, Members will recognise that immigration policy is for the Home Office to comment on. However, I can assure them that my Department and I are in regular conversation with our Home Office counterparts about the concerns of industry, and I will continue to raise those matters across Government.

On engaging with the fishing and seafood industry, my officials and I already engage extensively through hugely varied forums. We have a strong framework of engagement, as I set out in July in the Government’s response to the EFRA Committee’s April report. We can always do more, so I look forward to continuing to improve how the Department engages with stakeholders, including the fishing and seafood industry. I am currently looking to build on the visits I have undertaken in my first few months in post, to listen more to what fishermen have to say. I have a date in the diary to visit Shetland, and I am considering a number of other invitations to ports around the country.

I have heard the calls for a stronger strategic view of the fishing and seafood sector, and I will consider the case for a national strategy. I welcome the APPG’s action plan and its recommendations, some of which are already being delivered. I will also consider its wider findings and recommendations. In the meantime, my focus is on delivery for the fishing and seafood industry. I want the industry to thrive and to turn delivery into thriving communities, good jobs, better food security and a healthier marine environment. As I said at the start, the best tribute I can pay to the sector’s rich heritage is to do my very best to secure its future. I thank all Members for their contributions, and my hon. Friend the Member for Cambridge for securing the debate.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved,

That this House has considered the potential merits of a fishing and seafood sector strategy.