The economic link conditions aim to ensure that economic benefits accrue to the UK from vessels fishing against UK quota, even if those vessels are owned by non-UK interests.

An economic link to the UK can be demonstrated by landings to UK ports, crew nationality, vessel spend in port, or ‘other’ means, which usually involves donation of extra quota.

ABPmer was contracted to support a study by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), reviewing the economic link conditions for fishing vessel licences and appraising potential alternatives.

ABPmer delivered expert input on the UK fishing industry to underpin the study. We interviewed producer organisations about the functioning of the current economic link conditions, and contributed to the appraisal of alternative conditions and their variation across the UK.

ABPmer supports policy-makers, regulators and the fisheries and aquaculture industry on marine environmental policy matters, assessment and management, including interactions between fisheries, marine protected areas (MPAs) and other marine developments.

^{Image credit: Andrew Pearson}