Study: Warmer Seas Pose Threat to Classic British Dish

14 Apr 2015 --- As seas get warmer traditional fish dishes may get pushed off the British menu, according to researchers at the University of Exeter in the UK.

The numbers of fish such as plaice, haddock and lemon sole will decline as the North Sea warms by the predicted 1.8 degrees over the next 50 years, scientists said in the report, which has been published in the journal Nature Climate Change.

Sardines and squid may need to replace the British fish & chips classic dish, and other fish, such as John Dory, red mullet, gurnard, anchovies and cuttlefish, will all become more common in the seas around the UK.

“The waters around the UK will become more like Spain and Portugal and so will the fish,” a researcher on the study, Dr Stephen Simpson – marine biologist at Exeter University - told BBC News. “If we can learn to eat them then British fisheries can be very productive. It will mean changing the British diet, if we want to be catching and eating local fish.” 

Dr Simpson explained that flat fish were the most in trouble if seas do continue to get warmer.

Cod and haddock are likely to move further north, beyond UK waters, while other species may decline altogether. 

The research used long-term data on popular North Sea fish, including haddock, hake, lemon sole, plaice and dab, pitched against climate model projections from the Met Office for the next 50 years.