Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 29 of April, 2021 to Question 185932 on fishing catches, whether he has sought to quantify the economic benefits of the fishing industry referred to in that answer.

The catching sector contributes £467m to the economy per year (35% of the seafood industry) (2018). There are around 12,000 fishermen in the UK fleet – most (78%) of them working full time. In 2019, UK vessels landed a total of 622,000 tonnes of sea fish, with a value of £987m. The economic benefits of the catching sector also provide jobs and incomes for other sectors supporting the fisher including firms that produce fishing vessels and gear, exporters, processers etc.

The Aquaculture sector contributed £375m (GVA) to the UK economy in 2018.

The seafood processing sector employs around 19,000 people (full time equivalents) (2018), contributing £537m to the UK economy (2018).