Marine wild-capture fisheries depend on the capacity of the ocean to provide a flow of harvestable resources to
sustain the industry. Paradoxically, conventional fishing often undermines these resources by degrading the
environment and overexploiting fish stocks. Many UK fisheries have declined for over a century due to a biased
focus on their social-economic value and lack of recognition that they are social-ecological systems and need to
be managed as such. With the UK’s recent transition to an independent coastal state, the Fisheries Act (2020) and
associated Joint Fisheries Statement provide an opportunity to correct this. Focusing on the ecological foundations, a more sustainable future for UK fisheries may be achieved by: (1) implementing a conservative quota
setting system based on Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY), defined as that which would occur when the biomass
of a population of the target species is at 50% of that estimated at carrying capacity, to set catch limits rather
than targets. The biomass of fish stocks should be allowed to regenerate to a minimum of 120% of that which will
achieve MSY to provide a buffer against the uncertainty in ecological response to climate change. (2) Fishing
capacity should be reduced while redistributing a greater share of the quota to sectors of the fleet that are
demonstrably more sustainable; recognising that short term compensation may be required by some to mitigate
the impacts of displaced activity until the benefits of stock recovery are realised. (3) Greater restrictions should
be applied to ensure the most damaging fishing techniques (e.g. bottom trawling and dredging) are prohibited as
appropriate in the network of marine protected areas. Protection should be enforced to promote the regeneration
of degraded habitats and restoration of fish populations to help achieve the objectives as set out in the Ac
