Image description: Fishing boats docked in a harbour in Scarborough

A new study has issued a stark warning that the UK is at serious risk of losing the wide-reaching benefits of its sustainable fisheries unless urgent action is taken.

The paper, Recognising and Protecting the National Benefit of Sustainable Fisheries in the UK, highlights the deepening decline of the UK’s fishing fleet, especially in small-scale coastal communities, and outlines an urgent opportunity for policymakers to reverse this trend for the good of the economy, environment, and society.

Published in the international journal Fish and Fisheries, the paper brings together 19 co-authors including marine scientists, fisheries experts, community advocates, environmental groups and policymakers, who emphasise the vital role that sustainable fisheries play in maintaining marine biodiversity, supporting livelihoods, and preserving the UK’s coastal heritage.

In particular, the paper highlights eight distinct national benefits provided by sustainable fisheries, from food security and coastal employment to environmental stewardship and cultural heritage. The research introduces a new framework to help government bodies operationalise the ‘national benefit’ objective of the UK’s 2020 Fisheries Act.

However, long-term analysis of UK fisheries data conducted in the study shows alarming trends: a steep decline in fishing vessels, particularly small boats under 10 metres in length, and a growing imbalance that disproportionately affects rural and economically vulnerable coastal regions.

The paper argues that by protecting and promoting sustainable fishing practices across all scales, particularly in small, community-based operations, the UK can meet its commitments to biodiversity, levelling-up, food security and rural resilience.

Europe launches first every sturgeon breeding centre

The first ever floating sturgeon breeding centre opened on the Danube, and will rear and release 1.6 million fish by 2030.

WWF state “Few species on Earth are closer to extinction than sturgeons — a group of prehistoric giant fish that have survived for over 200 million years, only to become one of the most critically endangered animals alive today.

In a bold step to reverse their decline, Europe’s first floating sturgeon breeding station was ceremonially opened in Vienna today. The 66-metre-long ship MS Negrelli, now docked in the heart of the city on the Danube Island, will serve as a facility to build a captive broodstock as living gene bank and for raising juvenile sturgeons from the last four remaining native species in the river.

Around 1.6 million baby fish are expected to be reared in the project and released into the wild by 2030.”