MPs unhappy with government stance on coastal funding
The UK Government has given short shrift to calls from MPs for a “reset” of relations with fishing communities – and has defended the proportion of funding allocated to Scotland and the other devolved administrations.
In its report Resetting the relationship with fishing communities, published in April, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Select Committee of the House of Commons argued that local fishing communities needed to be given more of a say in the new aid scheme, the Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund, and called for a “Sea Use Framework” to be drawn up to address the competing demands of different users in the UK’s coastal waters.
The EFRA Committee also highlighted what its members saw as an unfair allocation of funds for fishing and coastal growth (including seafood processing and aquaculture). The current share allocated to Scotland and the other devolved administrations follows the Barnett formula, which is based on overall population size rather than the size of the fishing industry in each region.
Given that around half of the UK’s fishing industry, and the vast majority of aquaculture by value, is based in Scotland, this approach has come in for heavy criticism.
In its response, DEFRA (the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs), has rejected the committee’s recommendation on spatial planning, believing a Sea Use Framework is effectively already in place via its Marine Spatial Prioritisation Programme. DEFRA said it is taking a “strategic approach” to managing pressures on marine space, including through the Marine Spatial Prioritisation Programme (MSPRi). It added that it would not regularly report on the activities of that Programme.
DEFRA also rejected the call for a UK-wide network of Regional Fisheries Management Forums, comprising fishers, marine scientists and environmental organisations.
The government is also sticking to its position on funding for the devolved administrations. It said in its response: “Devolved Governments were clear that funding should not be reserved in the manner used under the UK Seafood Fund (UKSF) and emphasised that they are best placed to identify and respond to the needs of their own fishing industries. The Government therefore devolved the Fund in line with those
discussions and priorities.
“As a result, £56 million out of the £360 million will go to support the fishing industries in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, in addition to the wider spending settlements already provided to each Devolved Government by HM Treasury. The Government will continue to work closely and constructively with the Devolved Governments as delivery progresses.”
DEFRA also rejected a call to “front load” spending from the fund, to get more money sooner into capital programmes that will take several years to produce a result.
Response ‘lacks genuine engagement’
EFRA Committee Chair Alistair Carmichael MP (Liberal Democrat, Orkney and Shetland) said: “Anyone who speaks to fishers in this country will know that DEFRA, under this government and previous ones, is held in exceptionally poor regard.
“This response lacks genuine engagement with our report and reads like a face-saving exercise. Officials should instead be facing outwards to the fishing communities who were rocked by this government inking its 12-year reciprocal access deal with the EU. DEFRA needs to listen to them, and show contrition, in the process of earning their trust.
“To the contrary, officials believe they are in danger of engaging with the sector too much. That will give businesses in Cornwall and Brixham, home to England’s biggest fishing communities, something to laugh about.
“We recommended the creation of Fisheries Management Forums, with a formal role in shaping policy, precisely because all that engagement work by DEFRA appears to have washed over them.
“An insistence on using the Barnett formula to allocate funding to Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland is a clear case of Whitehall brain winning over common sense. It will most likely sour relations with DEFRA further still.”
Carmichael concluded, “We remain adamant that a Sea Use Framework is required. Our evidence session with Seafish, the Marine Management Organisation and The Crown Estate highlighted how access to the coastline appears to be decided without transparency and at the expense of fishing. A Framework would bring much needed light, coordination and accountability, and give fishers a seat at the table they deserve.”
In the Cabinet appointments made this week by incoming Prime Minister Andy Burnham, Angela Eagle DBE was appointed as Environment Secretary. She had previously served as Minister of State for Food Security and Rural Affairs (September 2025-June 2026) before moving to a brief stint as Minister of State for Security.
Stephen Morgan, who was appointed as Minister of State for Food, Farming and Fisheries at DEFRA, in June, will remain in post following the reshuffle, it was confirmed this week.
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