A fairer visa system is needed to better protect fishing workers from exploitation, a new report has revealed.
The report – Unravelling the Nets: An Examination of the Seafarer Visa Policies and their Impact on Migrant Fishers in the UK – looked at the visa system used by migrant fishing workers in the UK, which “recieves little scrutiny”.
Compiled by Focus on Labour Exploitation (FLEX), the report draws out the “dangerous dependencies” built into the visa system used by migrant fishing workers in the UK, which the organisation said was a risk set to grow exponentially due to policy decisions being rolled out across 2026.
FLEX found changes to the Temporary Shortage List and the Skilled Worker visas could force workers into applying for the Code 7 Transit Stamp, which does not grant permission to work or reside in the UK.
According to FLEX, pushing workers towards the stamp would create a huge grey area ripe for exploitation, without means for workers to raise concerns.
“Workers will be driven onto the transit route, criminalising them if they fish inside UK waters and removing practical options to challenge labour exploitation,” said Kate Roberts, head of policy at FLEX. “The government must act swiftly to bring a fishing workers visa into effect, to formally recognise fishers as workers and help end the misuse and over-reliance on a route that puts workers at high risk of labour exploitation.”
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The report was launched at an event held at parliament on 20 January attended by MPs, peers, legal experts, regulators, producers, retailers, academics and NGOs.
They called for a specific fishing visa, which recognises fishers as workers and includes options to access rights and challenge exploitation in practice, and want the upcoming Fair Work Agency to look at fishing as a priority for labour market enforcement.
Chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee and All Party Fisheries Group Alistair Carmichael said the food industry has been long “neglected and undermined” when it came to access to domestic labour and that it would “take a generation to turn around and until then migrant workers will remain a fact of fishing”.
“But highly skilled migrant fishers doing dangerous work deserve a better deal, where their rights, dignity and safety are guaranteed by a better visa system,” he added.
The report highlights that the UK’s fishing industry has become increasingly reliant on migrant fishers, who travel to the UK from as far as the Philippines and spend lengthy periods living and working on fishing vessels.
The ability of migrant fishers to access employment rights in the UK and to challenge poor conditions of employment is entwined with the complex legal and immigration frameworks which govern their entry and employment, and compounded by the need to pay off migration debts and support family members.
“For workers being exploited the visa system is poorly designed, and it is unclear where fishers can go for help if they need it,” said independent anti-slavery commissioner Eleanor Lyons. “Similarly, across other sectors like social care, agriculture, and migrant domestic household workers, there is a reliance on short-term visas but badly designed structures make the risk of exploitation worse.
“Alongside a better visa, we need a system overall that workers can actually navigate in practice,” Lyons added.
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