Fishing opportunities in the United Kingdom have long been a hotly contested issue. In the wake of Brexit, British fishers are facing up to the realities of new political, regulatory, and logistical challenges, as well as mismanaged environmental capital. Decades of overfishing have made the situation critical, given that both stocks and the livelihoods of small-scale fishers1 are now so fragile. In order to survey the current landscape, this review examines material from a variety of sources worldwide (fisheries bodies, fishing industry organisations, governments, judiciary, academia, environmental groups, European Commission, European Court of Auditors), as well as stakeholder interviews and a targeted data sample from the UK fixed quota allocation register and related public financial declarations.