LANDMARK PROJECT UK REPORT SHOWCASES SEVEN YEARS OF COLLABORATION

Landmark Project UK report showcases seven years of collaboration to improve sustainable fishing practices in UK seas.
- MSC certification status gained for North Sea plaice. North Sea lemon sole fishery could be ready to enter assessment for MSC certification soon
- Bespoke identification guides and posters were created by an expert group to help fishers identify endangered, threatened or protected (ETP) species, like thornback rays and harbour porpoises
- Publication of 25 novel research projects, including findings that have redefined stock boundaries within UK scallop fisheries
- Shaped several Fisheries Management Plans including crab and lobster through industry-engaged workshops for local fishers
- Nephrops (known as langoustine and Dublin Bay prawns), valued at £106 million based on landings into UK ports in 2023, aiming to enter the ‘In Transition to MSC’ programme
A project aimed at steering UK fisheries towards a sustainable future has contributed directly to a new national landscape for collaborative fisheries management, according to a landmark report published yesterday.
The report, Project UK Summary Report 2024, celebrates the contribution and collaboration of the fishing industry and many others in driving continuous improvements in sustainable fishing activities throughout UK seas.
Over seven years, Project UK has worked with six fisheries covering a variety of species and fishing methods for king scallops, monkfish, lemon sole, plaice, crab, European lobster, and Nephrops (also known as Dublin Bay prawn and sold as scampi or langoustine). Fished from Cornwall to Caithness, the value these fisheries bring in landings to the UK economy has been estimated at £177 million.
Yesterday’s report follows years of incremental improvement in a wide range of fisheries across the UK, driven by more than 101 separate organisations, 222 committed individuals, with around nearly £1.5 million raised to support the project. Retailers like Tesco, Sainsbury’s, M&S and Waitrose, as well as seafood supply chain businesses such as MacDuff Shellfish, Hilton Foods and Lyons Seafoods, in addition to WWF UK, Defra, Cefas and other academic institutions, are among those that have come together with the fishing industry under the Project UK banner to steer fisheries towards a sustainable future.
Mike Park, OBE, the CEO of the Scottish Fisheries Sustainable Accreditation Group said:
“We’ve been involved in Project UK from day one because this journey of step-by-step improvement, and ultimately the ideal of reaching a certified product, is absolutely essential to the Scottish fleet – as stewards of the resource and as a constellation of seafood businesses. Sustainability is everything.”
“This is how we future-proof Scottish fishing, by continuously evolving our understanding of the environment we operate in, and working to match the expectation of the supply chain.”
Several FIPs had an action to improve fisher identification of endangered, threatened or protected (ETP) species. Funded by Project UK, and with expert input from WWF, Shark Trust, Nature Scot, Natural England, Seafish, and the fishing industry, comprehensive species ID guides and posters that fishers could use in conjunction with reporting tools were created. These resources were then sent for distribution across the fishing vessels operating in each FIP, with digital versions available for download.
Beyond improvements in individual fisheries, Project UK’s work also has wider implications for the entirety of the fishing industry and marine ecosystems. It has contributed meaningfully to the advancement of fisheries science – commissioning at least 25 novel research projects or reports. One example is a PhD scholarship funded by the UK King Scallop FIP which fed into a wider understanding of the impacts of scallop dredging on seabed habitats, and could further influence UK-wide management of scallop fisheries.
While being on a pathway towards MSC certification is a broad target of involvement in a Project UK FIP, Lisa Bennett, a Senior Fisheries Outreach Manager at the MSC, speaks to the wider value of Project UK:
“At a time when the UK’s national fishing policy has been evolving – following the UK’s exit from the EU, and with the arrival of new legislation including the first Fisheries Management Plans (FMPs) in 2023 – Project UK FIPs have proven a valuable vehicle for ongoing collaboration across the marine and fisheries sectors, and for contributing directly to a new national landscape for collaborative management.
“We’re all really proud of what this project has achieved, and are looking forward to working with more UK fisheries in the near future.”
Project UK has templated how collaboration can lead to practical, multi-stakeholder-informed policy at the national level. The Crab and Lobster FIP, for example, hosted industry-led workshops to generate ideas and content that fed into policy consultations, helping to shape and support the resulting Fisheries Management Plans (FMP). Project UK also submitted formal responses to other key FMP consultations, demonstrating the valuable outputs from the project and contributions towards the policy development process for UK fisheries.
Beshlie Poole from the South Devon and Channel Shellfishermen’s Association reflected on the increased influence that the South West Crab and Lobster fishery was able to have on policy setting:
“Brown crab and lobster has long been ‘the poor relation’ in terms of national policy and the FIP has certainly contributed to highlighting the importance of both species. Project UK has been incredible and innovative in terms of engaging with our fleet in ways which work for them – a rare approach – which has gone a long way toward restoring faith that people who talk about management are also able to listen.”
Notable outcomes have also been seen by the Nephrops FIP. Ambitious in its geographical complexity, covering all vessels trawling or creeling (also known as potting) for Nephrops in the North Sea, Irish Sea and West of Scotland, significant efforts have been undertaken by the FIP to better understand this complex fishery and the different sustainability challenges the FIP must overcome. A two-year post-doctoral thesis explored the impact of Nephrops trawling on different seabed habitats around the UK. Through modelling, it suggested that while the main muddy seabed habitat recovers quickly after trawling, certain vulnerable habitats were more sensitive to the impacts, especially from smaller-mesh trawls. The study calls for more research to better understand the impacts on these vulnerable habitats.
While significant progress has been made across the Nephrops FIP, many actions still remain and key members of the Nephrops FIP Steering Group have come together to announce their intention to enter the ‘In-Transition to MSC’ programme before the end of the year. This improvement programme supports fisheries to make measurable and independently verified progress towards MSC certification, demonstrating the fishery’s ongoing commitment to achieving MSC certification.
Looking to the future, Project UK is working with industry representatives to develop a third round of improvement projects – bringing more fisheries under this banner of continuous improvement and starting new, five-year-long, tailored journeys towards sustainability. Over the past two years, significant work has been undertaken to further understand the next suite of fisheries identified as potential candidates, which include South West turbot and cuttlefish, east coast crab and Scottish sprat.