UK seafood trade dropped by almost £1 billion post-Brexit, but "reasons to be optimistic", says Seafish CEO

The UK’s seafood industry may finally be turning a corner after five years of unprecedented disruptions including the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit, according to Marcus Coleman, CEO of UK seafood trade body Seafish, speaking at the recent Responsible Seafood Summit organized by the Global Seafood Alliance.

Coleman pointed out that the UK seafood industry felt the first major impact in 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted supply chains worldwide. Lockdowns and other restrictions led to lower volumes of seafood being processed, caught, and traded. Following this, the UK’s formal departure from the EU single market and customs union in December 2020 introduced new regulatory and logistical barriers, hitting shellfish exports to the EU especially hard, which dropped in value by £152.1 million - a 27% decline from pre-2020 levels.

In his presentation at the summit, Coleman highlighted how these factors have significantly strained UK seafood trade, reducing the combined value of seafood imports and exports by nearly £1 billion (USD 1.3bn / EUR 1.2bn), from £6.45 billion in 2019 to £5.28 billion in 2024.

“Seafood trade reached a peak of almost £6.5bn in 2019 and things were looking bright. Consumer confidence was strong and the economy was in growth, although worries were bubbling up about the effect Brexit might bring about. It’s clear that what happened between 2019 and today created a challenging landscape for seafood trade," said Coleman.

However, "There are reasons to be optimistic if we look at initial increases in export and import volumes and value since the start of 2024," Coleman went on to say.

He pointed out that export values have seen a 7.9% rise over the past year, signaling renewed consumer interest in seafood products. Salmon imports, alongside whitefish alternatives like haddock, pangasius, hake, and tilapia, have also shown signs of steady demand.

"The first half of the year is, at last, showing growth and total trade is moving in the right direction again, although it’ll be a long climb back to pre-2020 levels. For the bounce back to be complete there also needs to be increases in the retail and foodservice sectors, although we understand market analysts are suggesting a cautious outlook," he added.