A new industry-led campaign launching on 12th March 2026 aims to strengthen the long-term commercial viability of Plymouth’s fishing fleet following the closure of the city’s fish auction in May 2024.
Led by the Plymouth Fishing & Seafood Association (PFSA), ‘A Taste of the Salt’ aims to rebuild the fleet’s market visibility, improve local access to landings and strengthen its position within the UK supply chain.
The auction had been Plymouth’s main sales point for locally landed fish. Its closure removed a central route to market, reducing direct contact between fishermen and local buyers and increasing reliance on sales through other South West ports, including Brixham and Newlyn.
While those markets remain strong, sending fish elsewhere for sale has changed trading patterns and reduced the fleet’s visibility within Plymouth. PFSA says the loss of the auction has affected more than just how fish are sold. It has limited opportunities to promote local provenance and has contributed to confusion about the status of the Fish Quay.
A consumer survey* conducted in summer–autumn 2025 by PFSA and Meor Studio found that 61% of Plymouth residents did not know where to buy locally caught fish, while 68% believed the Fish Quay had closed entirely – despite Plymouth ranking as the fourth-largest English port by landings in the most recent reporting year.
Edward Baker, CEO of the PFSA, said: “The economic and regulatory pressures on the fishing fleet are well documented. What is less often discussed is the impact of reduced market visibility. When local auction infrastructure disappears, so does a key route to profile and community connection. If we want viable inshore fleets in ports like Plymouth, that visibility and market access have to be rebuilt.”
While Plymouth-specific in focus, the campaign reflects wider structural pressures facing UK fisheries. Between 2008 and 2022, the UK’s active fishing fleet declined by 20.4%, with ageing vessel demographics and slowing recruitment compounding the challenge. Access to fishing opportunities, regulatory friction, spatial competition from offshore energy development, rising input costs and a domestic market in which more than 80% of seafood consumed is imported continue to shape operating conditions.
PFSA states that the core objective of ‘A Taste of the Salt’ is to improve resilience by promoting underutilised local species and encouraging greater domestic consumption of British-caught fish landed in Plymouth.
The campaign will launch with a short documentary film featuring first-hand accounts from fishermen, alongside a portrait series documenting the fleet and a panel discussion addressing supply chain challenges and future opportunities.
The initiative is supported by Plymouth City Council as part of wider efforts to sustain the city’s maritime economy and maintain an active fleet presence within the port.
‘A Taste of the Salt’ launches in Plymouth on 12 March 2026. For further information, visit pfsa.uk/a-taste-of-the-salt.
*Survey data from a mixed-methods consumer study conducted summer–autumn 2025 by PFSA and Meor Studio (is available on request).
(Photographs made for the Meor x Plymouth Fishing and Seafood Association Campaign. Main image – Steve Walker and Guy. Image credits: Ashley J. Bourne).
