Fishing into the Future

15/09/2026

Coming to a port near you 📍 the Mapping what Matters team is working their way around the English coast with drop-in sessions this autumn and winter, where you can record your fishing grounds on a chart and explain why they matter - this is so planning decisions can better account for the needs of your local community.

Whether you’re an active or retired fisherman, or a crew member or skipper, you could help fill in the gaps in the maps 🗺️ more info on the Fishing Porthole website 👉 https://www.fishingporthole.co.uk/mapping-what-matters/

Capture the importance of your fishing grounds, so that planning decisions can better account for the needs of your local community.

The Defra-led project invites all active and retired skippers and crew in England to come along to drop-in sessions this autumn abd winter, where you can record your fishing grounds on a chart and explain why they matter. It doesn’t need to take long, and the information you share will be anonymised and combined with others’ contributions before being made available to decision-makers. This means that no individual grounds or vessels will ever be shown.

Details of the first two drop-ins are as follows:

RNLI Lifeboat Station, Ramsgate (28–29 September)
Monday – 14:00-19:00
Tuesday – 08:00-19:00

Horsebridge Centre, Whitstable (30 September–2 October)
Wednesday to Thursday – 09.00-19:00
Friday – 09:00-18:00

Other drop-ins coming up in the East are:
Boston, at the Quayside Hotel (5–8 October)
Lowestoft, at the Kirkley Community Centre (12–16 October)
Cromer, at Merchants Place (19–21 October)
Wells, at Wells Maltings (22–23 October)
Kings Lynn and Southwold – more details to come.

The project will head to the rest of England over the following months. Those unable to attend in person are encouraged to contact the project team to see if a more convenient location can be arranged, or to take part using a postal pack.

To register your interest in coming to a drop-in or for other info including full dates, timings and locations of drop-ins, go to: bit.ly/Mappingwhatmatters

13/08/2026

One day reminder! 📅

We will be closing our job advert for an Administrative Support Officer tomorrow! This role is for one day per week, working from home/remote to help us keep Fishing into the Future running effectively!

Interested? See the job post here 👉 https://www.fishingintothefuture.co.uk/get-involved/

To apply send your CV and one-page cover letter to [email protected]

22/07/2026

We’re bringing together fishermen from across England to build the Small Scale Inshore Fishing Network – an ambitious fisherman led voice for our inshore fleet.

Your insight matters.

Join the network, add your voice, and help shape the decisions that will strengthen our communities and our future - join here
https://www.smallscaleinshorefisheriesnetwork.co.uk/join-us

21/07/2026

We’re hiring! Fishing into the Future is looking for a highly organised and proactive Administrative Support Officer to help keep our small charity running smoothly. This flexible, remote/home-based role is initially one day per week for one year, supporting finance administration, governance processes, meetings, records and occasional events.

See the job post here 👉 https://www.fishingintothefuture.co.uk/get-involved/

If you’re professional, reliable, confident working independently and interested in supporting UK fishing and coastal communities, we’d love to hear from you. To apply, please send a CV and one-page covering letter to [email protected] by Friday 14th August.

19/06/2026

The All Party Parliamentary Group on Fisheries has released its latest policy brief — and we were really pleased to see our F-REP events highlighted as a key part of strengthening collaboration 🤝

A big thank you to the Fisheries APPG for inviting our chairman, David Stevens David Stevens to speak and for recognising the value of bringing fishermen, scientists and policymakers together. If you’re interested in a deeper dive into building trust, we recommend you take a look at our Core Values for Working Together — based on facilitated conversations and what we’ve seen work in practice.

You can find our Core Values & the Fisheries APPG brief in the link on our bio on Instagram or via this link 🔗 https://tr.ee/tpjC4U

19/06/2026

The Fisheries APPG policy brief is out now 📃🔗 and you can read it here: https://tr.ee/tpjC4U

The All Party Parliamentary Group on Fisheries has released its latest policy brief — and we were really pleased to see our F-REP events highlighted as a key part of strengthening collaboration 🤝

A big thank you to the Fisheries APPG for inviting our chairman, David Stevens, to speak and for recognising the value of bringing fishermen, scientists and policymakers together. If you’re interested in a deeper dive into building trust, we recommend you take a look at our Core Values for Working Together — based on facilitated conversations and what we’ve seen work in practice. You can read it here 👉 https://www.fishingporthole.co.uk/core-values/

The way UK fisheries are managed is changing. The Joint Fisheries Statement (2022) signals a movement toward co-management – where the industry and policymakers collaborate in decision-making.

10/06/2026

It's been an honour to attend the The Seafarers’ Charity Annual Meeting at the breathtaking Lloyds Register Foundation today. It was so important to hear both organisations bringing fishing safety to the forefront of the discussions.

Which reminds us 💡 we've pulled together various bits of information on safety and wellbeing into one place onto the Fishing Porthole website... Featuring lots of great resources - including several by the Seafarers' Charity. Check them out here 🔗 👉

https://www.fishingporthole.co.uk/learn/safety

As always - we welcome feedback - so let us know if we are missing anything important!

21/05/2026

Seafood sellers 🦀🐟 if you are selling a high-quality product and want to "stand out in the market, attract aligned buyers, and get raving fans who come back for more" - check out the following webinar happening tonight!

The University of Maine in the USA is running a webinar tonight with the Local Catch Network on Brand and Marketing Fundamentals titled "Learn the Essentials that Build Trust, Highlight Your Story & Make Sales" 7PM UK time - check it out here 👉

Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: Brand & Marketing Fundamentals: Learn the Essentials that Build Trust, Highlight Your Story & Make Sales. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting.

18/05/2026

Sharing on an exciting job opportunity from the Network for Small Scale Inshore Fisheries 👉

Consultancy Role – support the development of the Small-Scale Inshore Fisheries Network

An opportunity to support the launch of a fishermen-led initiative to build a national small-scale inshore fishing network in England.

🔗 Find out more and apply by following this link:

Job Vacancy: Consultancy Position to develop a Small-ScaleInshore Fisheries Network 1 May Written By Vanilla Collective Please send your CV and cover note here. View fullsize View fullsize View fullsize Vanilla Collective

05/05/2026

We're on our way North to the Scottish Skipper Expo - and we're asking the locals if we should hold a F-REP in Northeast Scotland.

Our F-REPs are three day events designed to get people from the fishing industry, science and fisheries management to understand each other’s expertise and work together effectively.

Got any thoughts 💭 find us at the Expo - we will be wandering about and would love to chat - or, fill out a short form for us and let us know what you think 👉 https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfXZ9U_fNKA3eTH6Hd_IG7yO4eDbPUbWpADN2yagNW-1Pqmkg/viewform?pli=1