Brexit: What next for UK fisheries?

This Briefing Paper has been superseded. For an up to date analysis of Brexit and fisheries please see CBP 8396 Fisheries: Brexit Negotiations, published 6 September 2018

In 2015, fishing contributed £604 million to UK GDP and employed around 12,000 fishers and, as of 2016, the fish procesing industry supported around 18,000 jobs across 376 fish processing sites.  

The implications of Brexit for fisheries are highly uncertain. The implications will depend on future negotiations with the EU and future UK Government policy. The Government announced its intention to introduce a Fisheries Bill in the 2017 Queen’s Speech, which will: “Enable the UK to control access to its waters and set UK fishing quotas once it has left the EU.”