UK: Brexit costs Scotland up to £100 million-a-year in lost salmon exports

Salmon

Seafood

United Kingdom

Regulation & Compliances

Market & Price Trends

Published Mar 28, 2024

Tridge summary

Brexit has significantly impacted Scottish salmon exports to the EU, resulting in a loss of up to £100 million annually for Scotland. The exit from the EU in January 2020 introduced additional bureaucracy and costs, leading to a decrease in salmon exports from 53,000 tonnes in 2019 to 44,000 tonnes in 2023. Although there has been a slight increase in global sales, driven by demand in Asia and the US, the sector's sales could have exceeded £430 million if EU export volumes had remained at 2019 levels. Tavish Scott, the chief executive of Salmon Scotland, plans to discuss the post-Brexit challenges with MSPs and urge the next UK Government to alleviate the exporters' difficulties.

Disclaimer: The above summary was generated by a state-of-the-art LLM model and is intended for informational purposes only. It is recommended that readers refer to the original article for more context.

Original content

Brexit costs Scotland up to £100 million-a-year in lost salmon exports. Brexit has cost Scotland up to £100 million-a-year in ‘lost’ salmon exports, MSPs will hear today. Scottish salmon is the UK’s largest food export, but farming companies have faced increased red tape and costs triggered by the departure from the EU in January 2020. In 2019, there were more than 53,000 tonnes of Scottish salmon exported to the bloc, with the figure falling to 44,000 tonnes in 2023. Export values to the EU were only down three per cent to £356 million because strong global demand drove up prices, but if the sector had maintained volumes at 2019 levels, then sales would have been above £430 million. That means there has been a net ‘loss’ of around £75 million, or up to £100 million had the sector grown at the rate previously expected. The Brexit impact has been mitigated by huge growth in other markets, particularly Asia and the US. Overall international sales in 2023 were up from £578 million to ...

Source: Fish Focus