The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) has today (Tuesday 8 October) published corrections to the UK Sea Fisheries Statistics.
This follows an investigation into the fisheries landing data MMO manages for England and reports for the UK Fisheries Authorities as part of the annual UK Sea Fisheries Statistics after discrepancies were recently discovered in the dataset. Specifically, this related to missing landing records from between 2018 and 2023.
MMO’s comprehensive investigation, conducted in partnership with Cefas and other UK Fishing Authorities, confirmed the overall impact was small and within an accepted level of tolerance for operational data. However, the missing records mean that final landing weight and values published by MMO since 2018 have been underreported.
The amended data published by MMO, known as an ‘unscheduled correction’ (a revision of data outside the usual publishing schedule), addresses two key aspects:
- Landing records submitted correctly by fishers but were not represented in the final processed dataset.
- An issue with the exchange rates used to convert sales made in non-sterling (GBP) currency.
MMO’s Chief Statistician Rebekah Paul explained: “Landing data forms an essential part of the marine and fisheries evidence base. It provides information of the amount of sea fish landed by the UK fleet, including the weight of sea fish landed and the value of landings at first point of sale. This data is key to informing activity and policy related to fisheries, including quota negotiations and management, policy development and assessing the economic contribution of the sector. Importantly, this is only one part of any assessment as additional checks are in place to ensure that the data used is as accurate and representative as possible.”
The amended dataset includes several key revisions:
- The quantity of landings, as measured by live weight, has been adjusted upwards by an average of 1.0% for each year between 2018 and 2022.
- The reported value of landings by UK vessels has been adjusted upwards by average of 2.4% in each year between 2018 and 2022.
- There are adjustments to landing quantity and value by vessel size, gear type and area of capture. These changes are in line with other findings or represent a re-distribution of previously reported landings.
Notably, these adjustments reflect revisions to earlier reported information. They do not reflect changes in industry or economic conditions, and do not reflect any direct impact on the fishing industry, as the actual quantity of landings, or the value received for any sale, has not changed.
Rebekah Paul added: “The underlying issues that caused both the underreporting of landing records and the incorrect currency conversion have been resolved, and we have introduced additional checks and processes to ensure there will be no recurrence of these specific issues. MMO and UK Fisheries Authorities are committed to continuous improvement of our statistical products and hold ourselves to the highest standards. As part of this investigation, MMO has identified areas for future development and improvement, and we will continue to offer full transparency of further changes.”
The full revised dataset and summary of changes can be found on Gov.uk here. Following these amendments, the next annual UK Sea Fisheries Statistics will now be published on 5 December 2024.
