Seafish responds to New Economics Foundation Report ‘Jobs Lost at Sea’

10 February 2012

A new report released today (10 February) by the New Economics Foundation (NEF) has highlighted the economic impact of overfishing, suggesting that better fisheries management could be worth £2.7 billion and 100,000 jobs to the EU economy overall.

Seafish welcomes the report as a timely analysis and a useful indication of the benefits to society that can be delivered by healthy fish stocks and a sustainably managed fish industry.  Clearly if fish stocks as a whole increase, then the opportunity for sustainable harvest will also increase, generating more wealth and more jobs as a consequence.

Chief Economist at Seafish, Hazel Curtis, comments "This is a timely report and it is good that NEF raise the question of the benefits to society that can be delivered by healthy and sustainably exploited fish stocks.  However we should remember that the link between fishing revenues and employment is not always as simple as these figures might suggest.

"Much of the large decline in the numbers of UK fishermen since the 1940s is due to a reduction in sea areas where we have fishing rights, as well as to the modernisation and mechanisation of fishing vessels.  Plus, some of the fishing jobs that existed in recent decades might never have existed at all had fishing always been restricted to sustainable levels.  Any additional income generate from improved fish stocks in future might go first towards making existing workers more fully occupied or better rewarded than at present."

She continues, "It is important to realise that rebuilding fish stocks will most likely require the industry to forgo short term revenues and jobs in order to invest in better outcomes in the longer term - this trend has been continuing for around a decade.

"Also, NEF's report promotes the idea that stock recovery in Europe should be rapid, although it does not present a cost benefit analysis of different speeds of recovery.  In some cases, slower recovery can be more socially and economically beneficial than rapid recovery.

"Overall, the choices of whether to recover a fish stock and - if so, how quickly - must be made by politicians and should be advised by biologists and economists.  These are complex decisions which have to weigh the individual risks, costs and benefits of many factors and will vary considerably between different species, fisheries and local economies."

For more information contact:

Dani Sewell, Seafish press office

E: d_sewell@seafish.co.uk T: 01472 252 321