Half of the United Kingdom’s 10 most valuable fish stocks have critically low population levels, are overexploited, or both, according to a new report from Oceana UK.
The exposé, titled “Deep Decline,” also flags that one in six of all U.K. stocks are in “critical condition” yet continue to be fished beyond safe limits, thereby risking their total collapse.
Arguing that overfishing is “a political choice,” the charity accuses U.K. government ministers of ignoring scientific advice on catch limits.
Oceana UK Director of Research and Policy Alec Taylor told SeafoodSource the absence of a legally binding deadline for ending overfishing in the country’s Fisheries Act of 2020 “lies at the heart of the continuing lack of political attention and focus given to this issue.”
“Overfishing is not an unavoidable tragedy; it is a political choice, and currently, there is no legal accountability for failure,” he said. “The U.K. has no overarching recovery plan or legally binding time frame to end overfishing.”
According to the report, there are strong regional disparities in terms of fisheries health in U.K. waters.
The Irish Sea is the worst affected, the report said, with overfished stocks rising from 27 percent in 2020 to 41 percent in 2025, while one-third of stocks in the Celtic Sea are regarded as somewhere between being overfished and having critically low population sizes.
Celtic Sea cod and Irish Sea whiting in particular are in such a state of crisis that a total ban on all catches has been advised by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), Taylor said, highlighting that the 2025 quota for Celtic Sea cod actually exceeded the estimated number of remaining adult fish.
Taylor said the analysis shows the Irish and Celtic seas need “emergency, targeted action.” He also said he advocates for a change in management mentality, noting that many of these stocks occur in mixed fisheries, where several species are caught at once and species like cod are caught as bycatch.
“Instead of managing these fisheries with cod as an afterthought, the success of managing fisheries in these areas should be judged by the number of cod and quotas for all other species in the same fishery set to enable its recovery,” he said. “Stock management decisions make the difference. In places like the Irish Sea, where advice has been ignored, stocks are collapsing, [but] in the west of Scotland, more stocks have total allowable catches [TACs] aligned with science and ecosystem-based approaches are being tried.”
To alleviate the issue, Oceana UK is urging the nation’s government to:
- Urgently deliver a strategy to end overfishing by the end of 2026;
- Put in place a legal deadline to rebuild fish stocks that holds government accountable;
- Set all catch limits in line with the science by the end of 2025;
- Publish an annual Parliament-scrutinized audit; and
- Ensure a fair deal for fishers needing support to adjust to lower catch limits and sustainable practices.
It also suggests steps to be taken to prevent further stock collapse over the intermediate 12 months, such as:
- Aligning next year’s TACs with scientific advice across all stocks;
- Applying rebuilding buffers for stocks that are both overfished and being overexploited and prioritize those stocks for emergency reductions, including cod stocks, which the report highlights as a dual-risk stock;
- Beginning delivery of an overarching recovery strategy with clear milestones toward the 2026 deadline;
- Delivering a fully funded transition and skills program to support fishers to shift away from overfishing and destructive gear by end of 2026; and
- Reallocating taxpayer money, including the new Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund, into fisheries aligned with environmental and social outcomes by the end of 2026
“The concrete lessons to scale up are set catch limits in line with ICES advice; apply rebuilding buffers where appropriate; prioritize sustainable, local fisheries; and monitor outcomes with annual audits so successful practice is retained,” Taylor said. “This must also come with a wider government vision and plan to end overfishing across U.K. seas and a legal deadline for doing so.”
A crucial element of a shift toward lowering catch limits and setting more sustainable practices will be ensuring fishers get a fair deal, Taylor said. In this respect, he highlighted the aforementioned Oceana UK demands for the government to deliver a fully funded transition and skills program and to reallocate taxpayer money, including the new Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund, into fisheries aligned with environmental and social outcomes.
“Recovery benefits both the environment and the economy. Without fish, there are no fishing jobs. And recovery is possible if we follow the science. Stocks like West of Scotland haddock and North Sea plaice show that when catch limits match advice, seas and communities thrive,” he said. “This is not about choosing between conservation and provision of seafood. They are two sides of the same coin. Healthy seas mean intact habitats, plentiful fish, thriving tourism, and stronger coastal economies. Overfishing is the single greatest cause of the decline in fishing jobs and incomes, as fishers travel ever further to chase ever fewer fish.”
Meanwhile, acknowledging that many U.K. stocks are shared with neighboring countries, the report insists that international cooperation is also essential and calls for the use of international scientific advice and for the U.K. to request rebuilding-focused advice where necessary.
“The report’s core finding is that despite being an independent coastal state, the U.K. has repeatedly set catch limits above scientific advice in many cases, including several shared stocks,” Taylor said. “Although continued cooperation with other countries is vital, there is much that the U.K. can and should be doing on its own to lead the way. We believe that the U.K. is not using its post-Brexit independence to secure science-based, sustainable outcomes, despite having access to some of the best fisheries science in the world.”
