Fishermen generate £1.5m for local council

Torbay Council has made more than £1m through fishing tolls since April, a tax on fishers who operate in the authority's three harbours.

The toll, levied by the council on catches through its Brixham, Paignton and Torquay harbours, tops £1.5m in the current financial year.

It 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.

The income provides a major boost for the local authority's budget for running and maintaining the harbours, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The harbour committee is set to meet on Monday to fix its fees and charges for the coming year, with a 3.5% increase planned.

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 £2.1m worth of fish in a single week.

A multi-million-pound expansion of the fish quay area is planned.

Plans for a 3.5% increase on charges in the coming year will mean, for instance, the fee to launch a jet ski 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 said it will spend almost £4.4m running the harbours in the 2026/27 financial year.

Having received a projected £1.5m in fish tolls in 2025/26, the authority has set its expectations slightly lower for the following year at £1.4m.

Other 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.

Staffing costs of more than £1m are the biggest planned outgoing. 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% while other operational budgets have gone up by 2.5%.

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