'A sea of troubles' (2): Brexit and the UK seafood supply chain

Abstract

The debate over Brexit and the fisheries question has focused very largely on the expected benefits for the UK's fishing industry to the virtual exclusion of potential implications for the seafood supply chain. This paper refocuses attention on a supply chain now heavily dependent on both imports and exports of fish and fish products mainly to EU markets. Brexit could pose potentially significant problems arising from the imposition of tariff and non-tariff restrictions on trade and limitation on future movements of semi-skilled and unskilled EU migrants into the UK labour market. Three elements of the supply chain are likely to be directly affected: the shellfish and small scale fisheries sectors impacted by tariff and non-tariff restrictions and perhaps most significantly the fish processing industry, similarly affected by trade restrictions and heavily dependent on EU labour. Brexit has also been the catalyst for renewed pressures in Scotland for further devolution of powers relating to the fishing industry that at some future date could see the development of two distinctive seafood supply chains within the UK.