Delivering on seven priorities to support a thriving UK seafood industry
We’re reflecting on progress made by working with industry and partners over the past year while also looking to a busy future with an annual plan published for 2024-25 and a levy review consultation underway.
In 2023 we committed to a five-year corporate plan informed by feedback received from the seafood industry during a strategic review. The plan sets out seven industry priorities:
- Ensuring a safe and skilled workforce.
- Facilitating and promoting international trade.
- Responding to the climate change emergency.
- Improving fisheries management.
- Enabling supply chain resilience.
- Improving data, insight, and innovation.
- Championing industry reputation.
Highlighting achievements made possible by working closely with industry and wider stakeholders, we are pointing to a number of key accomplishments:
- The publication of Skilled Worker Visa guides to help the seafood industry navigate the legalities around the employment of migrant workers.
- Safety and skills have been improved with almost 6,000 training places delivered while seafood businesses occupied 43 exhibition spaces at four international trade shows.
- Seafood businesses have benefited from advice given around import charges, plastic packaging tax, extended producer responsibilities.
- Businesses can also now access a carbon emissions profiling tool to help the sector meet net-zero targets.
- Since leaving the EU, the seafood industry has had to adapt to changes in legislation with Seafish, along with DEFRA and the MMO working with 350 fishermen on fisheries management plans.
- Codes of practice have been developed with the shellfish industry on animal welfare commitments.
- An evidence-based response following misinformation being circulated about scampi has been developed.
- Health and safety workshops to support the industry were also welcomed.
Looking to the future
We have also published our latest annual plan setting out what we intend to deliver in the 2024 to 2025 financial year.
Ahead of our corporate plan being developed, the seafood industry gave us clear feedback on where you felt our assistance was needed most.
By working closely with industry and wider stakeholders over the past year, we’ve been able deliver outputs with real impacts. This has included practical tools and resources, guidance and training, and opportunities for UK seafood businesses to promote their products to key international markets.
We know there’s still more work to do to help our UK seafood industry thrive and we’re already underway with delivery of activities in our Annual Plan for 2024 to 2025.
Seafish is funded by levy and delivering across our seven priorities isn’t possible without it.
We’re currently consulting on proposed changes to that levy system so that we can continue to support the seafood industry across the UK.
Supporting our industry to thrive
Within our remit of supporting the seafood industry to thrive, we promote the best of the UK’s industry at international trade shows over the world.
By hosting pavilions at these shows in Europe, Asia and the United States, we provide the platform to help businesses across the sector to network and grow.
It’s just one of the priorities we have been working towards, but one appreciated by Chris Parker from the Wales Seafood Cluster, an organisation which encourages seafood businesses to work together.
Showcasing the range, quality, and provenance of seafood available from the UK, the UK pavilion provides a unified point for UK businesses to promote their businesses under the Great Britain banner, and also offers them the ability to give a much larger impression at a show of that size.
We are planning to run three webinars on the proposed changes to the levy for those likely to be affected with dates, times and venues for these yet to be confirmed.
Further information on these webinars will be published on our Seafish levy review page when available.
Relevant content
Further information is available elsewhere on our website - visit the who we are and what we do page to access a copy of our annual plan for 2024-25 and the Seafish levy review webpage for more information on the formal levy consultation