'Boats are gone'

Did Brexit deal sink the Hastings fishing fleet?

- Karen McVeigh

A small flotilla of gaily coloured fishing boats line the shingle beach at Hastings, East Sussex. Behind them are the bulldozers that shunt them into the waves and beyond, in neat rows, are black wooden fishermen's huts and fish stalls, where on a good day teenage daughters, wives and retired skippers sell some of the day's catch.

This is the Stade, a Saxon word for “landing place” from where wooden boats have set off since before William the Conqueror arrived in 1066.

But a decline in Britain’s fishing industry has hit many coastal communities hard. Hastings, home to one of the country’s oldest fleets and the largest beach-launched fleet in Europe, is one of the worst hit. The fleet, which had 53 registered boats in 2015, has 18 today, a drop of 66%. Most lie idle, the fishers say.

“Fishing has nosedived here,” says Peter White, 67, who has fished since he left school at 15. “A lot of people have left. From here all the way up the eastern channel as far as Whitstable. Harbours are empty, boats are gone. Fishing is on the floor. These boats haven’t been at sea for a month.”

No one is at sea today, because of to westerly winds, which worsen the farther out you go, he says. But even on a good day, there are fewer than eight active.

These small “under 10” metre boats are the backbone of the British industry; they represent 79% of the fleet and reportedly provide half of catch-related jobs. But in England between 2008 and 2022, they declined by 22%, nearly double the 13% fall in larger boats, according to research by Newcastle University and the University of Plymouth published this year. Over the same period, vessels under 10 metres spent 43% fewer days at sea.