麻豆淫院

More than a century of data how the UK has gone from supplying domestic seafood needs from productive home waters to importing seafood from almost 90 countries.

University of Exeter researchers compiled data on UK fishing and seafood imports from 1900 to 2020.

They found that catch in UK waters declined in the 1970s due to overfishing, and subsequently due to regulations brought in to rebuild fish stocks. Imports grew to meet the growing supply gap鈥攁nd by 1985 imports overtook domestic landings.

Seafood eaten in the UK is mostly the "big five"鈥攃od, haddock, salmon, tuna and prawns鈥攚hich are either depleted or non-existent in our waters.

The UK now imports more than six times as much seafood as in 1900, and it comes from over 2,000 miles away on average鈥攚ith China the largest source. Today, an estimated 80% of UK seafood demand is met by imports from overseas fisheries.

"The historical records show that the UK imported from five countries in 1900 and 89 by 2020," said first author Zoe Heard, from the Centre for Ecology and Conservation on Exeter's Penryn Campus in Cornwall.

"We now import seafood from all continents鈥攕howing how our demand for seafood has an increasingly global reach. But with that growing reach comes a responsibility to ensure British seafood imports are not driving overfishing and destructive fishing in distant waters."

Co-author Callum Roberts, Professor of Marine Conservation at the University of Exeter and lead scientist for the Convex Seascape Survey, said, "The seas around countries like the UK once supported prolific fisheries that easily met national demand for fish.

"But more than 100 years of intensive overfishing and mismanagement have diminished opportunities, forcing us to get fish from further afield.

"These distant fisheries in places like West Africa and the Indian Ocean often deprive local communities of badly needed seafood and employment."

Heard added, "Our results demonstrate the urgent need for improved fisheries management to help local stocks recover, diversification of consumption beyond the 'big five," and better international collaboration to break the serial depletion of popular food fish."

Co-author Ruth Thurstan, Associate Professor in Marine and Historical Ecology at the University of Exeter, said, "This study emphasizes the importance of considering not only how our fish are caught, but where our fish come from.

"Our favored species are not only caught using highly destructive gears, but the distances these products travel can also have a high carbon footprint.

"Switching to fish caught in UK waters using sustainable fishing methods both supports local coastal communities and efforts to reduce carbon."

The paper, published in the journal Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries, is entitled "The UK's expanding global reach for seafood over 120-years."