A £360mn fund will aim to boost the UK’s fishing industry and coastal communities, with a chunk of the money set to be distributed to devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
According to a 20 October statement from the UK government, the fishing and coastal growth fund – initial details of which were announced in May 2025 – will look to invest in new technology and equipment for the UK’s fishing fleet, train fishers and support tourism and trade in coastal communities.
The funding will be allocated regionally, with £28mn going to the Scottish government, £18mn to the Welsh government and £10mn set aside for the Northern Ireland Executive. The money has been distributed using the Barnett formula, which takes into account the population size of the UK’s constituent parts.
Angela Eagle, the UK’s minister for food security and rural affairs, is optimistic about how the fund will impact the industry, which has endured a challenging few years. “Supporting devolved governments with this new funding will help get the money to where it’s most needed, so the sector can thrive for generations to come,” she says.
Despite this bullishness, the new initiative – which allocates just under 8% of the funding to Scotland, despite its fishing industry landing over 50% of the UK’s total catch – has been criticised by the Scottish government and MPs in Scotland.
Speaking in the House of Commons on 23 October, Alistair Carmichael, the MP for Orkney and Shetland, described using the Barnett Formula as “ocean-going madness.”
Elsewhere, in a letter to Eagle published on 22 October, Scotland’s Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon said at least 46% of the new funding should go to Scotland – what it previously received under the European Union’s (EU) fishing allocation.
"It is unjustified and nothing short of insulting to the Scottish fishing industry and our coastal communities," Gougeon said.
For her part, Eagle believes devolving the fund will allow devolved governments “to design and deliver support in response to the specific needs of their fishing and coastal communities.”
“That will ensure that investment is targeted towards regional needs and national views, and that it best supports coastal towns and villages,” she told the House of Commons on 23 October.
In addition to the Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund, the UK government is looking to begin negotiations with the EU about a new sanitary and phytosanitary agreement. It’s hoped that a new deal will make it easier to sell UK seafood to the bloc, which is the UK’s biggest trading partner.