Fish fleets nets another cash bonus for Torbay

Torbay’s thriving fishing industry is netting another cash bonus for the bay’s council budget.

The ‘fish toll’ levied by the council on catches through its three harbours – especially Brixham – will top £1.5million in the current financial year.
The income provides a major boost for the local authority’s budget for running and maintaining the harbours.
The toll is a levy on fish and shellfish landed, sold, or shipped in the bay, and it covers the cost to the council of running harbour facilities. It is calculated according to sales of fish.
Brixham’s fish market is already the biggest in England in terms of value, and is reported to be on course for another record year.
In October Brixham Trawler Agents, which operates the market, broke its own records by selling £2.1million worth of fish in a single week – a massive 431 tonnes. Brixham handles landings from around 100 local trawlers and as many again from across the country.
A multi-million-pound expansion of the fish quay area is planned.
Torbay Council’s harbour committee will meet next week (January 5) to fix its fees and charges for the coming year, with a 3.5 per cent increase planned.
That will mean, for instance, that the fee to launch a jetski from a slipway will rise from £24 to £25. A dinghy parking space on Paignton Harbour will increase from £395 for a year to £409.
The council will spend nearly £4.4million running its harbours in the 2026/27 financial year.
Having received a projected £1.5million in fish tolls in 2025/26, it has set its expectations slightly lower for the following year, at £1.4million. This, the council says, reflects a prudent approach to the industry’s in-built uncertainties.
Other major sources of income include pontoon berths at a projected £820,000; mooring fees at a projected £273,000 and visitor and slipway fees at £110,000.
Harbour staff costs of just over £1million are the biggest planned outgoing, taking into account a likely pay award of four per cent. Planned capital costs include £282,000 on Brixham Harbour regeneration and £95,000 towards the replacement of the Torquay Town Dock.
The council plans to spend £450,000 on harbour repairs and maintenance and £230,000 on security and CCTV. The budget for security has been increased by 26 per cent while other operational budgets have gone up by just 2.5 per cent.
According to a report to the committee, this reflects the increased costs of keeping the harbours safe.