| one publication added to basket [198718] | The effects of 118 years of industrial fishing on UK bottom trawl fisheries
Thurstan, R.H.; Brockington, S.; Roberts, C.M. (2010). The effects of 118 years of industrial fishing on UK bottom trawl fisheries. Nature Comm. 1(15): 1-6. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms1013
In: Nature Communications. Nature Publishing Group: London. ISSN 2041-1723; e-ISSN 2041-1723, more
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| Keywords |
19th century
20th century
Catching methods > Net fishing > Trawling > Bottom trawling
Data > Fishery data > Fishing effort
Data > Fishery data > Fishing power
Equipment > Fishery industry equipment > Fishing gear
Fisheries > Demersal fisheries
Forestry > Forestry practices > Logging > Landings
ANE, British Isles [Marine Regions]
Marine/Coastal |
| Authors | | Top |
- Thurstan, R.H.
- Brockington, S.
- Roberts, C.M.
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| Abstract |
In 2009, the European Commission estimated that 88% of monitored marine fish stocks were overfished, on the basis of data that go back 20 to 40 years and depending on the species investigated. However, commercial sea fishing goes back centuries, calling into question the validity of management conclusions drawn from recent data. We compiled statistics of annual demersal fish landings from bottom trawl catches landing in England and Wales dating back to 1889, using previously neglected UK Government data. We then corrected the figures for increases in fishing power over time and a recent shift in the proportion of fish landed abroad to estimate the change in landings per unit of fishing power (LPUP), a measure of the commercial productivity of fisheries. LPUP reduced by 94%-17-fold-over the past 118 years. This implies an extraordinary decline in the availability of bottom-living fish and a profound reorganization of seabed ecosystems since the nineteenth century industrialization of fishing. |
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