ICES CM 2011/D:16
Great Britain’s role in North Sea demersal fisheries A long-term perspective over the past century
Tina K. Kerby1,2, William W.L. Cheung1,2, Georg H. Engelhard2 1 School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, UK 2 Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas), UK
Introduction - For accurate interpretation of fisheries data and revealing trends in fisheries, the historical contexts of influencing drivers have to be understood - Landing trends may not only be influenced by natural fluctuations or fishing pressure, but also by changing drivers affecting the fishing industry - In the 19th and first half of the 20th century, in particular England dominated North Sea demersal fisheries in Europe but lost this lead in the second half of the 20th century - Favourable terms of political, technological and economical drivers brought about this vast rise, but as well influenced the decline
North Sea demersal fisheries Gadoid outburst 1500 Other nations Russian Fed. & Un. Sov. Soc. Rep. Germany (incl. GDR) Development of large 1200 Netherlands scale modern fisheries Norway
) European countries 3 expanding their fisheries Denmark Scotland 900 England & Wales
England takes 50% Scotland leading of total North Sea landings TACs and quotas 600 North Sea fishery
WW I WW II
300 Landings (tonnes x 10 x (tonnes Landings
0 1903 1908 1913 1918 1923 1928 1933 1938 1943 1948 1953 1958 1963 1968 1973 1978 1983 1988 1993 1998 2003 2008
English demersal fisheries (incl. Wales)
800 Anglo-Icelandic cod wars All Seas )
3 Shift of North Sea fleet to prolific distant water grounds (e.g. North Sea North Sea contributes Iceland, Faroes) 600 50% to total landings Distant Water Grounds
400 EEZ introduction: loss of access to distant water grounds
200 Landings (tonnes x 10 x (tonnes Landings
0 1903 1908 1913 1918 1923 1928 1933 1938 1943 1948 1953 1958 1963 1968 1973 1978 1983 1988 1993 1998 2003 2008
Drivers positively or negatively influencing the development in English North Sea fisheries
1903-1950s Dominance 1950s-2008 Decline Technology Technology - Large fleet of purpose built steam trawlers - Modern technological devices more precise and efficient fishery - Otter trawl 37% higher efficiency than formerly used beam trawls - Stern trawler freezers industrial scale fisheries - Vigneron-Dahl trawl further increased efficiency by 25-50% - Technological advances in other European countries
Politics Politics - No law restricting fisheries - Anglo-Icelandic cod wars withdrawal of British fleet from Icelandic waters - WW I and WW II war service and losses of fishers and fishing vessels - EEZ introduction loss of distant water grounds; restricted fisheries - Total allowable catches and quota regulations
Economy Economy - Railway network opened up new markets for fish - Emphasis of North Sea fleets on prolific distant waters - Population growth increased demand increased supply - EEZs limited fishing grounds for overcapitalized distant water fleets - Flourishing ‘fish and chip shop‘ trade - Decline in per capita fish consumption
Conclusions - Much of the decline in England’s fisheries relates to political events and developments - When analysing landing data, not only biological responses of fish stocks to fishing and environmental changes should be taken into account, also changing political, economical and technological drivers have to be considered - Recovery of historical fisheries data are a prerequisite to interpret long-term changes and dynamics in ecosystems and fish populations
This work was funded by Defra contract MF1108 ‘100 Years of Change in Fish and Fisheries’ © Crown Copyright 2011