Consumer spending on MSC labelled fish and seafood in the UK and Ireland reached a record £1.7bn in 2025, up 14% on 2024, according to the latest MSC UK & Ireland Market Report. This represented 189,900 tonnes sold, also a 14% increase and the first time volumes exceeded pre-pandemic levels.
The growth mirrored wider seafood retail performance, with total UK retail seafood sales rising to £4.74bn on 410,225 tonnes, up 3.5% in value and 0.9% in volume year on year. MSC-labelled products accounted for around 65% of the value and 63% of the volume of all wild-caught fish and seafood sold, up from 59% and 58% two years ago.
In contrast, foodservice sales of MSC labelled fish and seafood fell from 5,507 tonnes in 2023/24 to 4,978 tonnes in 2024/25, with consumer spend dropping from £41.8m to £38.3m. Foodservice accounted for just 2.6% of total MSC-labelled sales in the UK and Ireland.
The report highlights opportunities for growth, noting that many quick service restaurants and pub chains sell seafood without the blue MSC ecolabel.
The MSC puts the primary driver behind growth down to the doubling of MSC certified skipjack tuna products available on shelves in the last year, a continuation of the upward trend that’s seen sales of canned and jarred MSC labelled tuna soar from £24.3m in 2020/21 to £269.1m in 2024-25. Volumes have grown from 2,461 tonnes to 37,027 tonnes over the same period.
Cod itself remains a good news story as four fifths of the volume sold in UK supermarkets carries the MSC label, which is also true of other popular species like cold-water prawns and mussels.
The picture is described as being “even brighter” for one of the UK’s most popular fish dinner staples – fish fingers, 88% of which bear the blue ecolabel.
The UK consumer’s desire for a broader range of sustainable fish and seafood is also being met by major retailers, brands and restaurants, with 49 different certified species sold last year. Newly available species with an MSC ecolabel in the UK in 2025 included banana prawns, Argentine red shrimp and Chilean jack mackerel.
Two thirds of the growth in consumer spending on MSC products in 2024-25 was on preserved products. UK shoppers spent £339m on cans, tins and jars of MSC labelled fish, representing a 64% leap on the previous year.
Seth McCurry, MSC UK & Ireland senior commercial manager, said: “With almost a quarter of UK consumers (22%) telling us they won’t buy fish unless it’s sustainable, it’s no surprise to see sales of MSC labelled products continue to rise significantly.”
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