Ecological meltdown in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland: two centuries of change in a coastal marine ecosystem

• Main Authors: RH Thurstan, CM Roberts
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: Animals; Ecology; Ecosystem; Fisheries; Flatfishes; Flounder; Gadus morhua; Oceans and Seas; Scotland; MD Multidisciplinary; Norway; Turbot
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30088121; https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Ecological_meltdown_in_the_Firth_of_Clyde_Scotland_two_centuries_of_change_in_a_coastal_marine_ecosystem/20886865

BACKGROUND: The Firth of Clyde is a large inlet of the sea that extends over 100 km into Scotland's west coast. METHODS: We compiled detailed fisheries landings data for this area and combined them with historical accounts to build a picture of change due to fishing activity over the last 200 years. FINDINGS: In the early 19th century, prior to the onset of industrial fishing, the Firth of Clyde supported diverse and productive fisheries for species such as herring (Clupea harengus, Clupeidae), cod (Gadus morhua, Gadidae), haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus, Gadidae), turbot (Psetta maxima, Scophthalmidae) and flounder (Platichthys flesus, Pleuronectidae). The 19th century saw increased demand for fish, which encouraged more indiscriminate methods of fishing such as bottom trawling. During the 1880s, fish landings began to decline, and upon the recommendation of local fishers and scientists, the Firth of Clyde was closed to large trawling vessels in 1889. This closure remained in place until 1962 when bottom trawling for Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus, Nephropidae) was approved in areas more than three nautical miles from the coast. During the 1960s and 1970s, landings of bottomfish increased as trawling intensified. The trawl closure within three nautical miles of the coast was repealed in 1984 under pressure from the industry. Thereafter, bottomfish landings went into terminal decline, with all species collapsing to zero or near zero landings by the early 21st century. Herring fisheries collapsed in the 1970s as more efficient mid-water trawls and fish finders were introduced, while a fishery for mid-water saithe (Pollachius virens, Gadidae) underwent a boom and bust shortly after discovery in the late 1960s. The only commercial fisheries that remain today are for Nephrops and scallops (Pecten maximus, Pectinidae). SIGNIFICANCE: The Firth of Clyde is a marine ecosystem nearing the endpoint of overfishing, a time when no species remain that are capable of sustaining commercial catches. The evidence suggests ...