Audit by conservation group finds six out of 10 fish stocks in UK waters are being overfished or are already in a 'critical state'
More than six out of 10 the UK's most popular fish species are being overfished in UK waters with populations of cod, herring, crabs, scallops, and whiting already in a critical state in much of the North Sea and English Channel.
That is the stark conclusion of a first-of-its-kind audit of British fish stocks released today by ocean conservation group Oceana, which audited 104 fish stocks in UK waters and found only 36 per cent were regarded as 'healthy' in terms of their stock size, while just 37 per cent are classified as being 'sustainably exploited'.
Of the top 10 most economically important fish stocks for the UK, the group found six are being overfished or have seen their stock biomass plummet to a critical level, meaning North Sea cod, North Sea herring, Southern North Sea crab, Eastern English Channel scallops, North East Atlantic blue whiting, and North Sea whiting are all at risk of falling off restaurant menus and supermarket shelves in the future.
The report also warned there was insufficient data to assess the status of North Sea anglerfish populations, meaning only three of the 10 fish stocks on which UK fishing industry most heavily relies are both healthy and being sustainably exploited.
Unlike for the overfished stocks, the three healthy fish stocks - North East Atlantic mackerel, North Sea haddock, and West of Scotland Nephrops - have seen catch limits set at or below the recommended sustainable limits in recent years, a fact Oceana said underscored the importance of science-based policies in ensuring a sustainable fishing industry.
With the UK government poised to begin further talks with the EU this week to discuss shared stocks between Britain and Europe, the conservation group urged negotiators to follow the best available science when setting catch limits.
Failing to do so would result in the fishing industry, coastal communities, and marine life all suffering in the long run, warned Oceana's head of UK policy Melissa Moore, who lamented the "shocking" stake of UK fish stocks highlighted by the audit.
"This report provides clear evidence that setting catch limits higher than those recommended by scientists is causing stocks of some of the UK's best-loved fish, like cod, to rapidly decline," she said. "Those currently taking part in negotiating catch limits for 2021 must set them in line with scientific advice and not push for continued overfishing."
The UK is a net importer of seafood, yet the majority of UK catch is sold overseas, mostly to markets within the EU. Government ministers repeatedly touted Brexit as an opportunity to 'take back control' of British waters to decide how much UK fisherman could catch, an issue which became a major sticking point of negotiations for the UK-EU trade deal struck last month. However, the past few weeks have seen fishing industry groups accuse the government of crippling the industry after new export paperwork led to huge disruption for businesses shipping fish to European markets.
The government is also expected to face continued calls from some within the fishing industry for Ministers to relax catch EU limits and regulations, which they characterised as excessively onerous.
But Greenpeace UK's oceans campaigner Chris Thorne said that after leaving the EU the government now had a "unique opportunity" to ensure sustainable fishing practices in its waters, including scence-based catch limits and a ban on destructive supertrawler and bottom trawler vessels.
"Since leaving the EU the government has a unique opportunity to bring in a ban, which will give fish space to recover," he said. "But until it does, our most important marine ecosystems will go on being plundered, fish stocks will continue to fall, and claims of being a 'world leader' in ocean protection will continue to be meaningless."
Responding to the audit's findings, a spokesperson for the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) insisted the government was committed to sustainable fishing, highlighting the recent Fisheries Act which they said had set out legally binding plans for achieving sustainable stocks.
"As an independent coastal state, we will manage our fisheries sustainably in a way that protects our precious marine and coastal environment, and enables our seafood sector and coastal communities to thrive," Defra said in a statement.