Warming seas bring Mediterranean fish to UK waters, challenging local fishing industry

The seas around Britain are warming, bringing an influx of Mediterranean fish species like octopus, red mullet, and bream to waters off Cornwall. This shift is forcing local fishermen to fundamentally change their practices and is prompting chefs to reconsider their menus.

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We've always caught red mullet but the numbers that have been poor over the last couple of years seems to be increasing massively.

Species that were once rare are now appearing in record numbers. An ongoing octopus bloom, attributed to warmer seas, has spread from the Mediterranean and is causing significant damage to native shellfish populations. This ecological change means traditional catches like cod and mackerel are becoming scarce, while warm-water predators and southern fish species are becoming more prevalent.

For fishermen in Cornwall, adapting to these changes presents major challenges and financial costs. Buck Bennett, a crab and lobster fisherman from Newquay, notes the massive increase in red mullet and various bream, species typically found in warmer climates. He predicts that the industry may need to completely alter its fishing methods within the next decade. Bennett also recalls that the South West was once the heart of Britain's mackerel fishery in the 1970s, but now, "nobody can catch a mackerel anymore." Some fishermen are now targeting yellowfin tuna, with one boat recently landing a 130kg specimen, and Bennett anticipates the UK might eventually receive official tuna quotas.

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When you look into them they're a very Mediterranean fish, also black bream, gilt-head bream and couch's bream, yet again, something that we would catch but in very, very small numbers.

The financial strain is considerable. Bennett worries about the potential arrival of new warm-water crab species, which could render his current equipment useless. Replacing his 600 to 700 traditional crab pots to accommodate new species could cost over £100,000. "I think every which way you look it's going to put strain on the industry, especially the industry here," Bennett stated. "We're all really in a sort of unknown, nobody's been in this position before so nobody knows what's going to happen next week, or next month, or in six months time. That's why it's so worrying, because you don't know if you can adapt or not, because you don't know what it is you've got to adapt to at the moment. All we can see is a lack, we can't see a gain, we can only see a lack."

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So I think the industry over the next three, five, seven, 10 years, anybody's guess, we could be fishing and having to change our fishing methods totally.

The growing octopus population directly impacts other valuable seafood supplies. Ian Perkes, a fish merchant in Brixham, highlighted that the large numbers of octopus are damaging local fish stocks.

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nobody can catch a mackerel anymore.