MPs warn fishers’ trust in UK government ‘as low as the sea floor’ as Carmichael lambasts Defra

Trust between fishing communities and the UK government has sunk “as low as the sea floor”, MPs have warned, in a scathing report that accuses ministers of botched communication and disjointed policymaking.

The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) select committee’s report, Resetting the relationship with fishing communities, published on Friday, says a series of unforced errors has badly eroded confidence and calls for urgent steps to rebuild it. The committee says fishers want a genuine voice in decisions that affect their livelihoods and urges clearer communication, consistent engagement and a visible understanding of life at sea.

“Rebuilding that trust is essential if the sector is to realise its economic and social potential,” the report states, adding that successive administrations have damaged relations with the industry. MPs highlight rising regulatory demands, fragmented policymaking and limited engagement with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) as key concerns.

During a visit to Brixham in Devon, members heard from small-vessel operators who described an administrative burden that was becoming “increasingly unmanageable”, with some considering leaving the industry. The committee found trust had been “badly damaged by confusion and poor communication” over regulatory changes introduced since Brexit.

The report also warns of a growing “spatial squeeze”, with competing demands from new energy infrastructure and marine conservation risking fishing being “crowded out”. It says better coordination is needed to balance economic and environmental priorities at sea.

MPs take aim at Defra’s new £360 million Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund, noting that just 8% was allocated to Scotland despite Scottish vessels accounting for more than half of the UK’s total catch. England’s share over the 12-year life of the fund will be £304 million.

EFRA chair Alistair Carmichael, the MP for Orkney and Shetland, said the fund could still do “real, lasting good” in fishing communities where morale and trust are low, but criticised the department for being unable to answer “fundamental questions” about how and why the scheme was designed.

Combined with what he called botched communication over new technical regulations due in 2026, Carmichael said the examples depict Defra as “a ship without a sail” and “somewhat divorced from the sector it is supposed to serve”. He cited a “litany of clumsy communication” and a lack of engagement and transparency.

To address the problems, the committee urges Defra to develop a Sea Use Framework—akin to the recently launched Land Use Framework—to guide suitable activities along the coast. It says the framework must be developed collaboratively, place fishing and coastal communities at its heart, include a formal mechanism for local participation in decisions, and address the seabed, the shore and the wider marine environment.

Carmichael said the voices of working coastal communities must be central to government policymaking. On the growth fund, the report calls on the UK government to work with devolved administrations on year-two allocations to ensure “consistency and fairness across the sector”, with Seafish used to support a coherent UK-wide approach.

The committee argues that only sustained engagement and clearer, consistent policy will begin to repair relations with an industry it says remains vital to many coastal economies.