According to the report the UK trawl fishing fleet is under tremendous pressure due to its decreasing catch. The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) and researchers from the University of York used UK Government data on the amount of fish caught and the size and number of boats involved – the fleet’s fishing power – to analyse the change in fish stocks since 1889.
The research found that 1937 was peak time for trawl fish landings, almost 14 times higher than today. At the same time the availability of bottom-living fish to the fleet fell by 94 percent. The decline in stocks of popular fish such as cod, haddock and plaice is far more profound than previously thought. Ruth Thurstan, lead author of the study from the University of York’s Environment Department, said that for all its technological sophistication and raw power, today’s trawl fishing fleet has far less success than its sail-powered equivalent of the late 19th century because of the sharp declines in fish abundance.
Simon Brockington, Head of Conservation at the Marine Conservation Society and an author of the study, informed that over a century of intensive trawl fishing has severely depleted UK seas of bottom living fish like halibut, turbot, haddock and plaice. he added that the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy gives an opportunity to set stock protection and recovery targets that are reflective of the historical productivity of the sea.
Professor Callum Roberts, from the University of York’s Environment Department, said that this research makes clear that the state of UK bottom fisheries – and by implication European fisheries, since the fishing grounds are shared – is far worse than even the most pessimistic of assessments currently in circulation.
