Conservationists have said that the UK government needs to urgently end polluting tax breaks for the UK fishing fleet that threaten to “empty the ocean of fish”, after a first-of-its kind study reveals diesel subsidies to be worth up to £1.8bn a decade.
According to the analysis by government environmental advisers, without the tax subsidies, largely provided to the most fuel-intensive section of the fleet, many sectors would be unprofitable.
Globally, fuel subsidies to the fishing industry were estimated at $8bn (£6.3bn) in 2018, and represented a third of all harmful fishing subsidies, the authors said, adding that they were a key factor in the widespread depletion of fish populations, more than a third of which are overfished.
According to the analysis of industry data, which was published in the journal Marine Policy last autumn, fuel-tax concessions for the UK industry amounted to £150m-£180m a year, from 2009 to 2019. They amount to between 15% and 18% of the industry’s income, which was worth £1bn last year.
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This tax relief benefits the most fuel-intensive, climate change gas-emitting and industrial fishing methods, such as trawling and dredging, acting as a disincentive to developing a more fuel-efficient and carbon-smart industry, campaigners said.
“The government has never admitted that it was dishing out anything like this much in tax breaks to the fishing industry. This indicates that, until this paper was published, the Treasury simply did not know it was doing so,” said Charles Clover, author and co-founder of the Blue Marine Foundation.
“We will not be alone in calling for these unjustifiable and idiotic subsidies to be phased out as soon as possible.”
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
