ORCID
- Hall-Spencer, Jason: 0000-0002-6915-2518
Abstract
The worldwide depletion of major fish stocks through intensive industrial fishing is thought to have profoundly altered the trophic structure of marine ecosystems. Here we assess changes in the trophic structure of the English Channel marine ecosystem using a 90-year time-series (1920-2010) of commercial fishery landings. Our analysis was based on estimates of the mean trophic level (mTL) of annual landings and the Fishing-in-Balance index (FiB). Food webs of the Channel ecosystem have been altered, as shown by a significant decline in the mTL of fishery landings whilst increases in the FiB index suggest increased fishing effort and fishery expansion. Large, high trophic level species (e.g. spurdog, cod, ling) have been increasingly replaced by smaller, low trophic level fish (e.g. small spotted catsharks) and invertebrates (e.g. scallops, crabs and lobster). Declining trophic levels in fisheries catches have occurred worldwide, with fish catches progressively being replaced by invertebrates. We argue that a network of fisheries closures would help rebalance the trophic status of the Channel and allow regeneration of marine ecosystems.
DOI
10.1371/jourl.pone.0101506
Publication Date
2014-01-01
Publication Title
PLoS ONE
Volume
9
Issue
7
ISSN
1932-6203
Organisational Unit
School of Biological and Marine Sciences
Keywords
Animals, Conservation of Natural Resources, Europe, Fisheries, Fishes, Food Chain, Shellfish
Recommended Citation
Molfese, C., Beare, D., & Hall-Spencer, J. (2014) 'Overfishing and the replacement of demersal finfish by shellfish: an example from the English Channel.', PLoS ONE, 9(7). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1371/jourl.pone.0101506
