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Every commercial fisherman in the UK should be granted a permanent, tradable share of the national catch, according to a new paper from the free-market Adam Smith Institute, which argues that the current system leaves the majority of the fleet dependent on short-term handouts and does little to arrest long-term stock decline. The report, Plenty More Fish in the Sea, by researchers James Hodgkinson and Mitchell Palmer, sets out a package of quota, market and post-Brexit reforms that it says would deliver both stronger incomes for small boats and better conservation outcomes.
What the paper proposes
At its centre is a change to how quota is allocated. Vessels under 10 metres, which make up 79 per cent of the fleet but contribute around 8 per cent of overall capacity, currently receive their share of the catch from the Marine Management Organisation on a weekly or monthly basis rather than as a permanent entitlement. The report argues these temporary allocations should be converted into permanent quota rights, based on historic catch records, that could be inherited, sold or used as security for finance. It also recommends creating an electronic trading platform for quota transfers, and points to New Zealand’s individual transferable quota system as an example of how property rights have been used to support stock recovery and profitability.
The Brexit angle
A second strand of the paper takes issue with the Lancaster House Agreement of 2025, which locked in reciprocal EU access to UK waters until at least 2038. The authors accept that reopening the agreement is unlikely but propose converting the EU’s share from a fixed percentage to a fixed tonnage, so that any biomass gains from UK conservation measures would flow to British quota holders rather than being shared automatically. They frame the change as a way of protecting the “sustainability dividend” of domestic policy decisions.
Reception and the wider debate
The proposals have been backed by Conservative MP John Cooper and by Reform UK MSP Max Bannerman, who described previous UK governments as having short-changed Scottish fishing communities. Conservative MSP Finlay Carson also welcomed the report while noting he could not support every recommendation. By contrast, recent organised industry opposition is less visible, particularly since the New Under Ten Fishermen’s Association, which for years pushed for a larger share of quota to be redistributed to small vessels, wound up in 2024. On the environmental and academic side, the New Economics Foundation and Open Seas have long argued that fisheries should be treated as a public resource rather than a tradable asset, and warn that permanent transferable rights can accelerate concentration. Open Seas cites figures showing 25 businesses already hold more than two-thirds of UK quota, while the under-10m fleet lands around 5 per cent of the catch. The paper itself acknowledges its recommendations would require significant legislation and are likely to prove contentious.
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