The UK marine fishing market has seen a combination of low catch volumes, the rapidly deteriorating economic climate and unpredictable seafood prices cause volatility during the last five years.
However, significant growth in 2008-09 and 2009-10 has seen the marine fishing industry through as it grew by an annualized rate of 4.6 percent over the five years through 2012-13 to reach a market value GBP 731.1 million (USD 1.15 billion, EUR 850 million).
In 2011 the UK had 6,444 registered fishing vessels, 17 percent fewer than in 2001. Over the same period, the number of fishermen on UK registered vessels has fallen by almost 2,600 to 12,400. The number of days spent at sea by vessels over 10 metersd in length has fallen by 42 percent.
The UK exports most of the seafood it catches. Foreign seafood markets greatly value UK species such as langoustine, crab and mackerel, while domestic consumers continue to focus mainly on a smaller range of species such as cod, salmon and haddock.
In 2011, just over 435,000 metric tons of seafood worth GBP 1.458 billion (USD 2.3 billion, EUR 1.695 billion) was exported from the UK. Total UK seafood exports showed price driven value growth of 9.9 percent, volume fell by 15 percent.
