Iceland Seafood International (ISI) CEO Bjarni Armannsson said the UK seafood industry requires greater consolidation to better serve the demands of the market.

Given the importance of the seafood industry to the food sector and food production in the United Kingdom, seafood is still a relatively fragmented industry, especially in the packaging of coated products, Armannsson told IntraFish.

At the same time, ownership structures have changed, meaning UK seafood businesses are no longer necessarily locally owned, the executive noted.

Companies operating in the United Kingdom from Canada, Australia and Alaska are in it to have a decent return on capital, and clearly that has not been the case recently in an industry that requires substantial amounts of automation to keep up with customer and consumer demand, Armannsson said.