Calls are being made for a complete ban on imports of Russian fish to Britain, following evidence that thousands of tonnes of cod, haddock and pollock caught by Russian boats are still entering the UK
Thousands of tonnes of Russian fish are entering the UK food chain via a “loophole” in rules intended to curtail the Kremlin’s ability to use international trade to fund its war in Ukraine.
Figures obtained by The i Paper show that white fish caught by Russia’s vast fishing fleet, and worth an estimated £100m, is being shipped to Britain via third countries, including China and the Netherlands.
It is then processed into frozen fillets which are sent to Britain and sold in fish-and-chip shops, as well as in supermarkets as fish fingers and fish pies.
Major retailers including Tesco and Sainsbury’s have stopped direct purchases of Russian fish and are working to remove Russian-origin products from their supply chains. However, industry sources say the influx of Russian fish supplied indirectly is being tolerated by processors because of a lack of alternative supplies.
The trade, which remains legal, is happening despite Britain imposing a 35 per cent tariff on Russian fish imports within days of Vladimir Putin launching his invasion of Ukraine four years ago.
Direct imports to the UK of fish such as cod and haddock caught by Russian vessels have consequently dropped dramatically, from 16,000 tonnes, worth £85m, in the year prior to the invasion to just 168 tonnes, worth £400,000, last year.
But new evidence shows Russian producers have simply changed the route by which their fish is reaching British dinner tables.
Russian seafood companies appear to be either absorbing the cost of the swingeing import duties by exporting to the UK via the Netherlands, or avoiding tariffs altogether by exploiting trade rules that allow the country of origin of fish to be changed if it undergoes “substantial processing”.
Under these rules, large amounts of Russian-origin fish is understood to be entering the UK via China and elsewhere in Asia.
Despite an abundance of fish species in UK waters, Britons overwhelmingly consume just five types of seafood – cod, haddock, salmon, tuna and prawn. These “big five” account for 80 per cent of all seafood eaten in Britain, with the vast majority of cod and haddock sourced from beyond the UK.
Despite government attempts to radically slash the amount of trade between Russia and Britain, it can be revealed that Russian fish is still being used to supply the food industry, indirectly contributing to the Kremlin’s tax income.
Figures obtained by The i Paper from Seafish, the public body providing research and support for the UK seafood sector, show that the amount of Russian fish entering the UK from the Netherlands has more than doubled since 2022, to 8,961 tonnes last year, representing a value of £38.2m. In 2023, the trade was even more valuable, securing exports worth nearly £50m.
However, the scale of imports from the Netherlands – which like other EU countries imposes a lower tariff of about 7.5 per cent on Russian imports – is dwarfed by the amount of Russian fish arriving in Britain from China, which is now Britain’s biggest single source of imported seafood, accounting for 15 per cent of a UK import market worth £3.4bn last year.
Russian fish is entering the UK after first being sent to countries such as China and the Netherlands
Industry sources told The i Paper that vast amounts of Russian white fish, including cod, haddock and pollock, is being sent to China to be turned into frozen fillets or other processed products. According to one estimate, Russia exported 1.3m tonnes of fish to China in 2023 – an increase of more than 36 per cent since 2021.
Under international trade rules, Russian fish processed into items including “blocks” of frozen fillets in Chinese factories can then be labelled as coming from China and re-exported. The figures show that Chinese whitefish exports to the UK have grown from 41,793 tonnes in 2021 to 52,162 tonnes last year, and risen in value by nearly 48 per cent over the same period.
A senior UK fishing industry source said: “There can be little doubt that what the Russians used to send to us directly is now arriving disguised as fish from other countries. It’s perfectly possible we are actually eating more Russian fish than ever before.”
According to the European Union Fish Processors and Traders Association, which represents members in the EU and the UK, some 95 per cent of all pollock arriving from China – which in 2023 exported 345,000 tonnes of the species to Europe – is considered to be “of Russian origin”.
A UK industry source said the value of Russian-origin pollock reaching the UK, where the species is mostly used for frozen breaded fish products, is likely to be at least £70m.
‘Funding Putin’s war machine’
One of Britain’s largest fishing companies told The i Paper that Russian suppliers were exploiting an “obvious loophole” in the UK’s trade restrictions, and called for a complete ban on Russian-origin fish entering Britain, saying the trade was indirectly funding Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
A spokesman for UK Fisheries Ltd, which operates Britain’s most advanced freezer trawler, the Kirkella, said: “At a time of increased food insecurity, it’s outrageous that the Russians should have free rein to circumvent import controls using an obvious loophole in the system.
“If thousands of tonnes of Russian fish is coming into Britain from Europe, as well as further afield, it makes a mockery of the UK government’s efforts to restrict this valuable trade for Russia.
“It’s well known in the industry that imports from China are really Russian in origin, meaning that profits generated through sales in our chippies and other outlets are indirectly funding Putin’s war machine.”
The continuation of Russian fish supplies to the UK and Europe is a source of dismay for Ukraine. A Ukrainian diplomatic source told The i Paper: “The fishing sector is a major source of revenue for Vladimir Putin’s war machine and it is being allowed to function largely untouched. We would like to see this industry added to the list of EU and UK sanctions as soon as possible.”
A worker picks up a piece of battered fish in a fish and chip shop. Photographer: Betty Laura Zapata/Bloomberg
Russian fillets are being re-routed via China and the Netherlands and sold in British fish and chip shops
In a statement, the Russian embassy in London said “the British market and ordinary people” were paying raised prices for fish as a result of the tariff regime. Other argue that it is increased energy and labour costs, as well as quota restrictions, which are causing increased prices.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said the UK tariff regime had led to a fall of more than half in the tonnage of Russian-origin fish entering Britain since 2022 but said it was up to processors to ensure they are not buying Russian fish.
A spokesperson said: “The UK’s support for Ukraine is ironclad and we will continue to ratchet up economic pressure on Russia to put Ukraine in the strongest position possible. The UK’s 35 per cent tariffs on Russian imports apply to Russian origin fish and our sanctions have led to a significant fall in Russian imports. We have been clear that seafood processors should remove Russian fish from their supply chains.”
Seafish said it believed the tariff regime, which means a levy of up to 47 per cent on Russian fish once pre-existing tariffs are added to imports, was making Russian product “likely uncompetitive”. Aoife Martin, director of operations for the UK body, said an increase of 20 per cent in the amount of farmed white fish entering the UK since 2022 indicated suppliers were doing their best to turn away from Russian produce. She said: “This likely reflects UK seafood processing businesses seeking alternative supplies of raw material.”
Most major supermarkets, including Tesco, Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Morrisons, have said they stopped any direct purchases of Russian fish shortly after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and have or are working to eliminate any Russian-origin fish from their supply chains.
But separate industry sources said the influx of Russian fish supplied indirectly is being allowed within the British and European processing sectors because of a lack of supplies, and the likely inflationary impact of a full ban.
A picture taken 21 February 2006 shows trawlers from the Murmansk fleet in the port, waiting the next fishing expedition. The fishermen of Murmansk reminisce about times when there were no quotas and a powerful Soviet fishing fleet roamed the seas, from the shores of Canada to the Indian Ocean. AFP PHOTO / DARIO THUBURN (Photo by DARIO THUBURN / AFP) (Photo by DARIO THUBURN/AFP via Getty Images)
Fishing trawlers moored in Murmansk, home to a significant proportion of the Russian fishing fleet (Photo: Dario Thuburn/AFP)
The UK Seafood Federation, which represents fish processors and traders, declined to comment. But one UK fish processor told The i Paper there are currently no readily available substitutes for Russian white fish supplies at a time when cod stocks are once again under pressure.
In its most recent annual report, the EU Fish Processors and Traders Association said the industry “remains heavily dependent on Russian raw materials”, with more than a third of white fish supplies for Europe originating from Russia. The organisation said: “A complete ban on Russian seafood would… have severe negative consequences for both the EU and global food supply.”
Ukraine urges tougher action
Other observers, however, including the Ukrainian authorities, argue more should be done to restrict the ability of Russian producers to sell into the UK.
According to figures from the Russian government, the country’s fish industry, which catches or farms about five million tonnes of seafood a year, contributed some £850m in taxes and social contributions to the Russian treasury in 2023. Moscow is currently spending some 6.3 per cent GDP or £112bn on defence – about a third of all government spending – to fund its war in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian diplomatic source added: “It should not be the case that the food being served in British pubs and homes is providing revenues for the Russian government, revenues which self-evidently fund Putin’s war.”
The extent to which Russian producers are able access European markets is underlined by a Norwegian company’s decision to open a regular route between the Arctic port of Murmansk, a key hub for the Russian fishing industry on the edge of the Barents Sea, to bring Russian fish to the Netherlands.
The Silver Sea shipping group, which is based in Bergen, makes regular deliveries of Russian-caught fish to Dutch ports and recently hit the headlines after one of its vessels – the Silver Dania – was briefly detained following alleged damage to a subsea cable in the Baltic Sea. The ship, which had a Russian crew, was released after officials said there was no evidence of wrongdoing.
Tormod Fossmark, the company’s chief executive, said it was careful to follow all rules and recommedations laid out by the Norwegian and European authorities. He said: “We are not involved in the sales market for fish in Europe. Our responsibility is that we comply with all sanctions, rules and regulations. We are strongly against the aggressive war Russia has started against Ukraine.”
For its part, there is frustration within the UK fishing industry that the autonomy promised by Brexit has failed to result in any increase in the whitefish quotas for British vessels which could reduce reliance on foreign suppliers, including those from Russia. The UK quota for cod in the Barents Sea has fallen dramatically from 18,287 tonnes in 2019 to 4,075 tonnes in 2025.
The spokesperson for UK Fisheries Ltd said: “Not only does the Government need to clamp down on this shameless practice, it also needs to ensure that this year’s round of quota talks with Norway and others gives British fishermen the scope to bring home more of our own cod and haddock from our traditional waters, so that we can stop relying on dodgy grey Russian imports.”
The Russian embassy in London claimed that “ordinary people” in Britain were paying the price for restrictions on whitefish imports and acknowledged that the country’s fishing industry had “swiftly pivoted” to other markets “primarily in Asia”. In a statement, the embassy said: “We would like to stress that sanctions are not an effective instrument of political pressure.”
How Cold War spy trawlers are being resurrected by Moscow
It was a feature of the Cold War that both Nato and the Soviet Union repurposed fishing vessels to act as clandestine tools for espionage and other quasi-military activity. For Russia at least, it seems the idea is back in vogue.
Western intelligence services, including those of the UK, are tracking a rise in suspicious activity by Russian trawlers in the seas of northern Europe amid a consensus that Moscow is conducting an increasingly hostile campaign of surveillance and sabotage against subsea infrastructure.
Just as the Soviet Union deployed fishing boats to track Nato submarines and weapons systems – using the vessels’ heavily insulated freezer compartments to conceal electronic listening gear – so it is believed that Russian spooks are using trawlers to once again prowl the Baltic, North Sea and North Atlantic with ill-intent.
Last summer the Dutch authorities banned Russian fishing vessels from entering the port of Eemshaven, in the north of the Netherlands, after registering what they said was suspicious activity near an adjoining military facility and a hub for 11 transatlantic data cables.
The Belgian and Swedish security services have also publicly raised the alarm about non-military Russian vessels sailing through their territorial waters to conduct suspected maritime espionage activities.
Describing the tell-tale signs of Russian spy trawlers, one Swedish commander said: “We find antennas and masts that do not belong to a fishing vessel.”
Suspicious Russian fishing craft have also been spotted in UK waters, with one Scottish captain last year reporting seeing an armed man on board one Russian trawler.