Massive reduction in fish stocks

Dr. Gary Robertshaw
May 2010

The journal Nature Communications claims that there has been "an extraordinary decline" in fish stocks and "profound" ecosystem changes with four times more fish caught in UK ports 100 years ago than today.

"Over a century of intensive trawl fishing has severely depleted UK seas of bottom living fish like halibut, turbot, haddock and plaice," said Simon Brockington, head of conservation at the Marine Conservation Society and one of the study's authors. "It is vital that governments recognise the changes that have taken place and set stock protection and recovery targets that are reflective of the historical productivity of the sea."

Whereas UK fishermen often blame the EU's Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) for their economic problems, the authors of this study say it proves that depletion arose from mismanagement many years before the CFP was established.

The situation with fish stocks is a microcosm of a larger, burgeoning problem. That is, increasing human population requires increasing food and water supply, which is unsustainable in the longer-term.