There are around 350 processing sites in the UK that process seafood. These sites generated an estimated 17,000 to 18,000 (full time equivalent) jobs.

The sector includes a full range of skills and processes involved in preparing seafood for sale – from ‘primary’ processing (including heading and gutting, cutting, filleting, peeling, washing and chilling seafood) to ‘secondary’ processing (including smoking, brining, canning, freezing, breading, battering, cooking and preparing seafood products such as fish fingers and ready meals).

The UK’s largest centres for seafood processing are in the Humber region (primarily Grimsby and Hull) and Grampian (in north-east Scotland), with significant numbers also in South West England and the South/Midlands. 

A number of other processors are scattered around the UK, with moderate numbers in rural outlying areas such as Northern Ireland and the Highlands & Islands of Scotland.

The UK processes most seafood types and mixed species factories are the most common. Processors use fish caught and landed in UK waters and fish imported from the rest of the world.