Call for blue belt to help depleted stocks

A “blue belt” of zones should be created around the UK to protect endangered fish species and help support sustainable fishing, according to scientists.

Researchers at Southampton University say the opportunity for new fishing policies created by the Brexit negotiations combined with reduced fishing during the pandemic offers the chance to restore fish levels.

The study, which was carried out jointly with the Geomar Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research and British Colombia University, shows that the reduction in fishing activity during

“Several stocks targeted by UK fishers are in a degraded state”

the pandemic has seen pressure on some threatened species fall to levels not seen since the Second World War.

The researchers highlight that as the UK will no longer be bound by the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy it has a chance to develop a new policy focused on sustainability.

Lead author Professor Paul Kemp, from Southampton University, said: “Several stocks targeted by UK fishers are in a degraded and precarious state, with around 40% that will continue to be overfished when normal activity resumes.

“One of the reasons for this is that fishing quotas – or how much of each species can be caught in a certain area by each country – are set by the EU at levels higher than those that would enable the recovery of the populations.”

The researchers propose fishing targets should be set to levels in which fishers leave more fish in the water than the minimum required to generate maximum sustainable yields.