Ruth Thurstan is a PhD student at the University of York, studying historical changes to marine ecosystems around the UK as a result of fishing activities.

Government reports and fisheries statistics, alongside anecdotal evidence of past abundance is being used to piece together a picture of how the marine environment has altered over the past 200 years as destructive fishing technologies have increased in use around the UK.

This work should provide critical information on historical baselines in the marine environment, and help people to understand the transformations that have occurred because of our actions.

• Introduction
• The herring fishery pre-1950
• The demersal fishery pre-1950
• Scientific Interest pre-1950
• Changes 1900-1950
• 1950 onwards - Emerging fisheries and the decline of herring
• 1950 onwards - The decline of demersal fisheries
• 1950 onwards - Scallops and Nephrops
• Discussion - Causes of change
• Conclusions
• References

This project reports on the Firth of Clyde. By building up a picture of this region and the changes that have come about, it is hoped that some sense can be made of the scale of transformation that has occurred.

If you would like to provide any feedback to Ruth please use the email address given in ‘Contact Us’ and we’ll pass the message on directly.

Please let us know if you spot any potential errors or omissions in our transcription.

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