Transformations to sustainability are frequently framed as key to blue growth, but they often engender complex consequences for communities. This article illustrates the role of environmental meaning in these processes through the lens of the Brexit vote on the Yorkshire East Coast. Based on discursive institutionalist analysis of narrative materials from semi-formal interviews conducted in 2017 alongside textual documentation from media, policy, and regional archives, I trace connections between transforming marine governance regimes, environmental meaning, and the British relationship with the EU from the Cod Wars to today. The transformation towards ecosystem-based management in British maritime governance post UNCLOS III left local communities feeling ‘left behind’ not only economically but also in terms of marginalised local meanings of place, labour, and environment. The Brexit vote, in this context, shows the multivalence of transformational processes and the importance of considering environmental meaning as part of their just execution.