The UK's fish and chips sector relies heavily on Russia for around 40 percent of its white fish supplies. Some of the Russian whitefish is imported through Norway, Poland, and Germany. A government official has stated that the United Kingdom is “fully committed” to imposing the sanctions. The United Kingdom Government has delayed plans to impose sanctions on Russian whitefish due to concerns about the effect on the British fishing industry.
White fish was among the Russian exports that the United Kingdom was going to impose a 35 percent tariff in response to Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Approximately 30 percent of the population of the United Kingdom, a spokesman for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said that the government is imposing the “most severe sanctions in history” on Russia following its illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. The United Kingdom has officially imposed a 35% import tariff on fish from Russia and Belarus. Thanks to the recent expansion of the fishing agreement between the parties, Russia will continue to fish in the territorial waters of the Faroe Islands and will provide quotas to Faroese fishermen for catching in the Barents Sea. Russia and Ukraine together produce a quarter of the world's supply of wheat; any interruption in this supply will affect the production of the dough and breadcrumbs used by fish and chips stores, as well as frozen fish products sold in supermarkets and restaurants. In a situation similar to David versus Goliath, with help from the forestry and fisheries department, Siyaphambile Fishing Primary Coop in Hamburg will be able to use its permits however it wishes, as long as it is in line with the department's transformation objectives.
The internationally established fishing and exporting group Balobi has failed to get a higher court to prevent a small community fishing cooperative based in Hamburg from using its lucrative squid fishing permits in any way.
