West Coast of Scotland - Exploitation
The WC Scotland has been fished extensively over the past 100 years and lately has been described as nearing the endpoint of overfishing . During the mid-20th century, trawl closures helped maintain productive fisheries, but the demersal fishery collapsed with their reopening . “We argue that continued intensive bottom trawling for Nephrops with fine mesh nets will prevent the recovery of other species. This once diverse and highly productive environment will only be restored if trawl closures or other protected areas are re-introduced. The Firth of Clyde represents at a small scale a process that is occurring ocean-wide today, and its experience serves as a warning to others” . “Following the repeal in 1962 of a long-standing ban on trawling, yields of demersal fish from the Firth of Clyde, southwest Scotland, increased to a maximum in 1973 and then declined until the directed fishery effectively ceased in the early 2000s. Since then, the only landings of demersal fish from the Firth have been by-catch in the Norway lobster fishery”.