Most fish caught in Scottish waters is exported, whilst most fish eaten within Scotland is imported (Moffat et al, 2020). In 2023, 611,000 tonnes of seafood was imported to the UK at a value of £3.5 billion. In comparison, in 2023 it exported 336,000 tonnes of seafood. The top five fish and fish products imported were tuna, salmon, shrimp and prawns, cod, and haddock. The top five countries importing seafood to the UK were Norway, China, Iceland, Vietname, and the Netherlands (Marine Management Organisation, 2024). Regionally, the East Scotland Coast, covered by block 2 in figure1, total value of catch in 2018 was £21.38m (out of £649.69m total value in Scotland) (Moffat et al, 2020).

When considering the sources of fish and shellfish processed annually in NE Scotland (according to a 2019 survey):
•   White fish - 52139 tonnes were from Peterhead, 9781 tonnes from Fraserburgh, 6656 from Rest of Scotland, 6132 from Contract/Imports
•   Pelagic fish - 100% from Scottish sources - all landings at Peterhead
•   Shellfish - 61% were from Scottish sources, 35% from rest of UK, 4% from imports
•   Salmon - 3000 tonnes of salmon was processed in NE Scotland, mix of from Scotland and imports
So looking at the East Grampian Coast specifically, the economic impact of imported seafood is small compared to the economic impact of seafood caught in Scottish waters (NESFLAG, 2020).

In recent years, seafood trade has been impacted by Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic, and war (i.e. Russian invasion of Ukraine) (Scottish Government, 2022).