There are far more EU boats in UK waters than vice versa, and the vessels are significantly larger on average, we can reveal.
The investigation by Facts4EU and GB News comes as Sir Keir Starmer faces accusations of "betraying our fishermen again" after it emerged the Prime Minister is poised to sign away Britain's waters to the EU in exchange for a defence deal.
Europe’s fisheries are reportedly dangling the €150 billion-valued defence fund - a mega investment drive unveiled last month aimed at enabling countries to re-arm quicker - in exchange for a beefed-up post-Brexit trade agreement and greater access to Britain's valuable fishing waters.
The deal, which could be finalised as soon as next month, has attracted the ire of staunch Brexiteers, with Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg saying: "The EU ought to stop carping and pay us for defence while the Government must not flounder by betraying our fishermen again."
EU boats have Britain over a barrel in terms of size, number and weight
Getty Images/Facts4EU
With the negotiations gathering pace, British fishermen, in conjunction with Facts4EU, have launched the UK Fisheries Campaign (UKFC) to highlight what's at stake and expose how the current arrangement shortchanges Britain.
Previously, we have revealed how EU fishermen are dumping tonnes of plastic waste and discarded fishing nets into Britain’s waters while the authorities turn a blind eye and are indiscriminately killing UK marine life.
Facts4EU's analysis of 2025 data, shared exclusively with GB News, shows there is a massive disparity between the EU’s ability to enter UK waters to catch fish and the UK’s ability to catch fish in their waters.
With the UK’s authorities seemingly reluctant to release all types of information which the public should have a right to know, the UKFC has been analysing the latest data it has been able to obtain.
Amongst these is the list of all the EU fishing boats licensed to fish perfectly legally in UK waters and the list for all the UK boats licensed to fish legally in EU waters.
There is a wide disparity between the number of vessels licensed to fish in the other side’s waters
Facts4EU
Findings of the report
There is a wide disparity between the number of vessels licensed to fish in the other side’s waters, with 1,570 EU boats circling Britain's coastline compared to Britain's paltry 874. That's an 81 per cent difference in terms of access (see chart above).
The total length of Brussels' vessels also dwarfs those of Britain's, coming in at a whopping 35,945 metres - that's 141 per cent longer than Blighty's boats, which run to 14,924 metres.
End-to-end, the EU’s ‘UK waters’ fleet stretches 2.4 times as long as the UK’s ‘EU waters’ fleet (see chart below).
End-to-end, the EU’s ‘UK waters’ fleet stretches 2.4 times as long as the UK’s ‘EU waters’ fleet
Facts4EU
Brussels' boats are also heavier, weighing 2.6 times that of the UK fleet at 396,096 tonnes to the UK's 151,486 tonnes (see chart below)
Brussels' boats are heavier, weighing 2.6 times that of the UK fleet
Facts4EU
