June 12, 2026
A Living for the Many
BY: Sarah Holcomb
In the United Kingdom and Ireland, small-scale fishers describe changing seas and the fight for their future
The sun is setting on the United Kingdom’s promise to end overfishing. Seven years ago, the U.K. government pledged a new era of “gold standard” fisheries management, yet small-scale fishers continue to find fewer fish in the sea. Now fishers, along with environmental advocates, are raising their voices for change.
Half of the U.K.’s top 10 commercial fish stocks were either overfished or in a critical state as of 2023. Scientists say the government set catch limits too high, and many small-scale fishers agree. They point out how current fishing limits let large industrial fishers off the hook, while small-scale fishers face the toughest restrictions. “Fishing should provide a living for the many, rather than a fortune for the few,” says retired small-scale fisher Jerry Percy.
Published in November 2024, Oceana’s latest report in the U.K. insists that a better future is possible. “Mission Regeneration: A Roadmap to End Overfishing and Restore Life to U.K. Seas” lays out specific policy recommendations and features the voices of individuals who rely on the oceans across the U.K. Its call to action: Support those who fish in harmony with nature, while holding destructive parts of the industry to account.
We are really at the edge of this precipice — in fact, I think we’ve fallen over it, to be honest. So anything that happens needs to be radical and revolutionary.
– Jerry Percy, retired small-scale fisher
Caroline Bennett
England
Three decades ago, Caroline Bennett founded London’s first rotating sushi restaurant, inspired by Japan’s conveyer-belt phenomenon. Business was soaring. But despite her efforts to ethically source the fish on her menus, service was far from sustainable. “With sushi, you need 20-odd species on your menu at any one time,” she explains — a feat that usually requires foreign or industrially-caught fish. Bennett decided it was time for change.
Today Bennett lives in Plymouth, England, working to make sustainable seafood more accessible with her business, Sole of Discretion. Buying directly from local fishers, she purchases fresh fish at a fair price — including small fish like pouting and whiting that most buyers reject. Then she markets it to people and businesses eager for eco-friendly, socially responsible options.
Due in part to overfishing, the price of local fish has skyrocketed in the U.K. “Seventy percent of the fish is sold overseas,” says Bennett. Industrial vessels, largely from outside the U.K., come as close as six nautical miles off the shore and catch vast volumes of fish, she says. “They are making a significant impact on our fishers’ ability to fish here.”
Bally Philp
Scotland
When Bally Philp looks at old photos of his fisherman father with his boat, it’s the fish he finds most striking. His father stands knee deep in cod — large cod, by today’s standards. “Cod like that would make the front page of newspapers now,” Philp says. “And that change happened in just one generation.”
A representative of the Scottish Creel Fishermen’s Federation, Philp has seen firsthand how overfishing affects Scottish fishing families, including his own. “The small-scale fishers are under a lot of pressure everywhere, mostly from industrial fishers and poor fisheries management,” says Philp. This also puts the ocean ecosystem under pressure. Sustainable fishing, he points out, is “only viable in a healthy, productive ecosystem.”
Fish don’t belong to anybody, Philp says, “but if we had to allocate them to someone, it would be the public. Fish are a common resource to manage in the interest of humanity.” Our first objective, he says, should be to listen to scientific advice — and fish accordingly.
Due in part to overfishing, the price of local fish has skyrocketed in the U.K. “Seventy percent of the fish is sold overseas,” says Bennett. Industrial vessels, largely from outside the U.K., come as close as six nautical miles off the shore and catch vast volumes of fish, she says. “They are making a significant impact on our fishers’ ability to fish here.”
Neily and Muireann Kavanagh
Ireland
Muireann Kavanagh has already made a name for herself at 15 years old. A fisher from the Irish island of Arranmore, she isn’t afraid to speak out about the challenges facing families like hers — and a generation of young fishers.
A top challenge they face relates to how the government allocates the amount of fish that can be fished every year. Generally, each fisher receives a quota that is proportional to past catches: the more a fisher has caught in the past, the more they can catch in the future. But this system ignores how the fish are caught, if the gear is sustainable, and whether the fishing activity contributes to jobs in the local community.Kavanagh argues that fishers who use lower-impact gear such as fishing lines and crab pots — like the Kavanaghs — should “have a bit more quota than they already have.”
“I feel that fishing communities in Ireland are not getting fair treatment,” she says.
“I was born just 200 meters up the beach, and have lived here for fifty-something years,” Muireann’s father, Neily Kavanagh, gestures up the coastline. “Industrial boats take more and more from us. Our boats are tied up most of the year.”
Eighty-five percent of fishers in Ireland operate on a smaller scale, fishing inshore waters with boats less than 12 meters (39 feet) long. Despite this vast majority, they can only fish 5% of the herring quota, and 1% of the mackerel quota — the rest belongs to the big boats, he says. “I want the government to fight in our corner, start allocating quotas fairly, and let our boats fish.”
The fisheries and trade agreement between the U.K. and the European Union will be up for renegotiation next year. “Oceana is calling on the U.K. Government and the European Union to end overfishing, restore our seas to life, and support lower-impact fishers,” says Amy Hammond, Oceana’s lead fisheries campaigner in the U.K. “There is no time to waste.”
