Fish Dependence is the day on which imports have to be relied upon because national catches would have run out if only home-caught fish had been eaten since 1 January.
UK relies on imports for approximately four months per year, to satisfy domestic demand for fish products.
Fish dependence is a powerful concept that illustrates how far over consumption outstrips domestic resources. One way to illustrate this trend is to represent a country’s degree of self-sufficiency as a calendar day – the day in the year when a country has consumed its own supply and must begin sourcing its products from elsewhere, hence the term ‘fish dependence day’. For the EU this date is currently 11th July, after which the EU depends on foreign resources. Fish dependence day is calculated by New Economics Foundation (NEF).