There have long been issues of trust between the fisheries sector and institutions charged with fisheries management, not helped by the more recent repercussions of Brexit. This paper gives some insights into the issue, summarising the results of a survey to examine levels of trust as well as fishers’ opinions of current management goals and tools. The survey responses came from fishers representing a variety of vessels sizes and types of fisheries and, although there was much variation between the individual responses, the overall picture was one of low levels of trust in nearly all the institutions included in the survey. Management goals aligned with several goals from Defra’s 25-year Environmental plan, MPAs were the least popular goal and increased use of selectivity devices was the most favoured management tool. Based on the results, the authors recommend increased use of fishing industry-science partnerships and co-management as key to increasing trust.

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