The EU has over 80% MORE BOATS in UK waters as the UK has in theirs

Tonnage of EU fleet in UK waters is 2.6 TIMES that of the UK’s fleet in EU waters, says UK Fisheries Campaign

Montage © Facts4EU.Org and The UK Fisheries Campaign 2025

End-to-end, the EU’s ‘UK waters’ fleet stretches 2.4 times as long as the UK’s ‘EU waters’ fleet

There is a massive disparity between the EU’s ability to enter UK waters to catch fish and the UK’s ability to catch fish in their waters, according to the latest official figures for 2025 – nearly five years after the UK left the EU.

Longer, heavier, and more of them

There is no question but that the EU’s fishing fleet in UK waters is enormous in every way – in average boat length, weight, and sheer numbers. To give some idea, if the EU started at Calais and lined up end-to-end all its boats licensed to fish in UK waters, it would be possible for a French person to cross the English Channel without even getting their feet wet.

The total length of the EU’s UK-licensed fleet is 22.3 miles – easily enough to cover the distance.

The UK Fisheries Campaign takes on the French President

This analysis has been conducted by the Facts4EU think-tank for the newly-formed UK Fisheries Campaign, which had its formal public launch last week. In this research we looked at the official data for commercial fishing vessels which have been licensed to fish in each other’s waters.

With President Macron threatening to demand even more fishing rights in the renewal negotiations this year for the fishing deal between the UK and the bloc, the UK Fisheries Campaign (the UKFC) is releasing its report showing the breathtakingly-lopsided nature of the deal that was agreed first by Theresa May, then ratified by Boris Johnson, back in 2019.

With the UK’s authorities seemingly reluctant to release all types of information which the public should have a right to know, the UKFC has been analysing all the data it has been able to obtain. Amongst these is the list of all the EU fishing boats licensed to fish perfectly legally in UK waters and the list for all the UK boats licensed to fish legally in EU waters.

This report blows Macron’s demands out of the water, says the new UK Fisheries Campaign

The UKFC’s report shows that not only are there far more EU boats in UK waters than vice versa, but that the EU’s boats are significantly larger on average. The combination of superior numbers and much great tonnages per boat produces an extraordinary mismatch, revealed by the UKFC for the first time.

These figures show once and for all, says the UKFC, that far from President Macron and his colleagues demanding more, they should receive much less and be made to pay for the access they are given.

Summary of the UK and EU fleets in each other’s waters – Part I

EU vessels licensed by the UK authorities to fish in UK sovereign waters
VERSUS
UK vessels licensed by the EU authorities to fish in EU waters

1. Numbers of vessels licensed to fish in the other side’s waters

UK vessels fishing in EU waters : 874
EU vessels fishing in UK waters : 1,570 (+81%)

2. Length of vessels licensed to fish in the other side’s waters

Total length of UK vessels in EU waters : 14,924 metres
Total length of EU vessels in UK waters : 35,945 metres (+141%)

Longest UK-registered vessel : 119.7m (393 ft)
Longest EU-registered vessel : 144.6m (474 ft)

To repeat, these figures are not for the entire EU and UK fishing fleets. These are purely for the vessels licensed to fish in each other’s waters. In a convoy, lined end-to-end, the EU’s entire ‘UK waters’ fleet would stretch 2.4 times the length of the UK’s ‘EU waters’ fleet.

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Summary of the UK and EU fleets in each other’s waters – Part II

The tonnages of the UK and EU fleets in each other’s waters

The information below relates to EU vessels licensed by the UK authorities to fish in UK sovereign waters,
and the UK vessels licensed by the EU authorities to fish in EU waters.

3. Tonnage of vessels licensed to fish in the other side’s waters

Total tonnage of UK fleet : 151,486 tonnes
Total tonnage of EU fleet : 396,096 tonnes
The tonnage of the EU fleet is 2.6 times that of the UK fleet

Less than 4% of the number of its vessels account for 50% of the fleet’s total tonnage.

OBSERVATIONS

If you believe it’s important to get information like this out there, please help by becoming a Member of the UK Fisheries Campaign or by making a donation.

Fishing is now back to being an important topic on the news, and that’s down to the work of the UKFC.

Thank you.

[ Sources: United Kingdom Single Issuing Authority (UKSIA) ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.