In the UK 80% of the fleet is 10 metres and under (MMO, 2021).

Small boats vulnerability to weather and sea conditions constrains their days at sea, a natural form of management. Large boats land more fish as they are able to fish in worse weather and for longer periods than small boats, this is important for many markets to ensure a constant supply of fish. Over 10m boats supplied 85.5% of fish (live weight) to Cornish ports in 2021, with 10m and under boats supplying the other 14.5% (MMO, 2021). Small boats are categorised by being 10 metres or less and have significantly less gross tonnage and less kw power than larger boats. In the UK fishing vessels are separated into small, inshore boats, sometimes called day boats, and larger, offshore boats. How does the size of boat change fishing? Multi purpose inshore fishing vessel Pride of Cornwall, Photo by Laurence Hartwell © Change in effort graph from the MMO 2021 UK Sea Fisheries Statistics report. This is likely due to a combination of factors, most prominent being the decommissioning carried out by the government between 20, quota challenges, coastal squeeze and increasing running costs.įigure 1.

The over 10m fleet has declined by 43% since 2003. The gross tonnage of vessels in the UK fleet has remained relatively stable since 1991, however, the power (kW) of the fleet and the number of boats, is on a continuous and steady decline (MMO, 2021).

There remains a significant number of large, high-powered vessels which can catch a huge volume of fish in the UK, for example 75% of the fish landed in the UK in 2021 was from vessels over 24 metres, despite these vessels making up only 4% of the UK’s fishing fleet (MMO, 2021).

Small fishing dredges for bosts