Socio-economic evidence for sustainable fisheries

This research was funded by the UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) Sustainable Management of UK Marine Resources (SMMR) programme. It is part of the wider Pyramids of Life: Working with nature for a sustainable future project (NE/V016008/1). The project starts from the position that sustainable fisheries (The Fisheries Act 2020 and associated Fisheries Management Plans) cannot succeed if scientific evidence and fisheries practices are not connected with citizens preferences, attitudes and opinions. Although globally overfishing is the biggest threat to marine ecosystems, there are around 100 species of fish found in UK waters and a wide variety of fish and shellfish are landed by fishing fleets (MMO, 2025), yet 80% of total fish consumed in the UK is imported (Defra, 2024). This represents a significant loss of opportunity that the wider Pyramids of Life project has evidenced through a focus on a balanced harvest approach to fishing (Law and Plank, 2023) and the underpinning concept of linking marine ecological biomass pyramids (lots of small fish, fewer big fish) with pyramids of human needs (food, nutrients) and pyramids of environmental pressure (fishing and its management).Connecting the pyramids provides a lens to link the ecological benefits of fishing across available stocks, including across underrepresented species such as (Cornish) sardines and herrings, to the nutritional benefits from eating smaller, oily species (FSA and DoH, 2004). Moreover, shifting UK consumers’ choices away from the Big-5 narrow basket of fish and fish (the Big-5 ordered by per capita consumption are prawns, cod, haddock, tuna, salmon; Löfstedt et al., 2025) towards more nutritious and lower-impact species is vital in the transition towards more sustainable fish consumption that also supports small-scale fisheries, the communities that rely on them, and cultural heritage (Coulthard et al., 2025). In this context, understanding preferences, attitudes and behaviours of consumers, is a key priority of the CSERGE team.This report provides a detailed summary of the findings of the Pyramids of Life project responding to Knowledge Strand 1 (KS1): Measuring human needs and perceptions. The pyramid of focus is human needs, specifically, the socio-economic challenges and opportunities for diversifying consumption of fish and fish (e.g., molluscs, shellfish, crustaceans). The main aim of the report is to map UK consumer fish preferences and habits and to assess the willingness of UK consumers to diversify their fish consumption preferences. It uses evidence gathered from focus groups, a national survey and aggregated supermarket sales data. Analysis of this evidence suggests a set of actions and policies to promote a more nutrient-rich and diverse fish diet to benefit both fish consumers and local fisheries’ communities.