Launch of the 2024 fishing fleet survey
Seafish researchers will again be heading to harbours and ports around the UK this summer.
From July 15 we will be conducting our fishing fleet survey to learn about the financial performance of fishing businesses and the demographics of their crew. The process also gives vessel owners and skippers the opportunity to share details on how their business has fared in the last 12 months.
We encourage all vessel owners and skippers to participate in the survey, as their input is instrumental in ensuring the fishing industry in the UK is moving in the right direction. The interviews take no longer than 15 minutes to complete and all responses are treated as strictly confidential, with no figures from any individual vessel revealed elsewhere.
This year researchers will be handing out a free First Aid at Sea Guide for every skipper or vessel owner that participates.
“Our fleet survey is an essential tool for monitoring the performance of our fishing industry. By taking part in this survey, vessel owners and skippers can help create an understanding of the challenges they face as well as new opportunities.
We encourage as many fishing businesses and vessel owners as possible to get involved in this year’s survey. The data collected is crucial for guiding policymakers, industry stakeholders, and businesses, ensuring the sector is prepared to tackle future challenges effectively”.
Fishing businesses who take part in the fleet survey can request a free benchmark report which compares their vessel’s economic performance to similar vessels and can help identify areas for improvements. It can also be used as evidence in grant or loan applications.
During last year’s fleet survey, many fishing vessel owners responded to the survey. Our Economics of the UK Fishing Fleet report for 2023 will be published later in the year, but initial findings show:
- On business performance over the previous 12 months, 24% rated it poor or below average. 41% rated it average and 35% rated it above average or excellent.
- On the outlook for business over the next 3-5 years, 17% rated it bad or very bad, while 37% rated it good or very good. Most people (46%) were neutral or unsure about their future performance.
The most mentioned factors to recent performance were abundance of catch (36% of respondents), operating costs (30%), the price of catch (25%) and access to labour (20%). Abundance and price of catch were seen as positive influences by most respondents, while operating costs and access to labour were seen as negative.
Labour continues to be a pressing issue for the UK fleet and the 2023 survey included a specific question on access to skilled labour, including UK and foreign crew.
Nearly half of respondents reported that this issue did not apply to them as they were single-handed vessels but among the remaining 201 people interviewed, 71% rated their access to skilled labour as bad or very bad. A tenth of respondents reported being negatively affected by changes to the transit visa regulations.
In general, 2023 findings suggest a slight improvement in vessel owners’ and skippers’ moods about their business performance.
How to get involved:
The schedule of when researchers are visiting areas across the UK is available on our website at www.seafish.org/fleetsurvey. Vessel owners can look out for researchers in ports and harbours across the summer.
Those who want to pre-arrange an appointment to take part in the surveys can email fleet.survey@seafish.co.uk including the following information:
- Name
- Email and/or phone number
- Port of operation
Our researchers will get in touch to arrange an in-person interview in port or a call.
If you have questions about the survey or enquiries about how industry estimates could be used to support your business, please contact the fleet survey team on fleet.survey@seafish.co.uk or 07966 764150.