The humble fish supper is one of this nation’s greatest achievements. Put together cod, batter, potatoes, salt, and vinegar, and you end up with something truly remarkable, but this classic dish could be about to get, well, a lot more exotic.
The bottom line is that cod, haddock, and other fish which have historically inhabited our waters are getting harder and harder to find. They’re being forced to migrate as climate change heats up our oceans, making them uninhabitable to the species we’ve been used to catching, and frying, for hundreds of years.
And we’re not the only ones who are seeing native species pushed out by global warming. New kinds of marine life are now making homes off our coasts: Iberian orcas have been spotted in Cornwall, and we are expecting an influx of sharks and rays over the next few years.
All of this leads us back to a central issue for British fishermen: if there are no fish that people want to eat, what’s going to happen to them? Experts say we all might need to adapt to a rapidly shifting climate.
Now, Professor John Pinnegar from CEFAS has warned that ‘fishers might in the long term have to change the species they target and catch’ adding that ‘we as consumers might have to change the species that we eat’.
The extent of this shift was outlined in a report by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) a couple of months ago, where they concluded that ‘immobile’ species like sea snails, clams, and other mollusks will suffer the most. But every species which suffers will have ‘knock-on impacts to ecosystems and food-webs’.
Certain species are more responsive to changing climates, according to one expert from the University of Plymouth who told the Daily Star that ‘things like jellyfish, like octopus... are the sorts of things that you expect to respond quickly to climate change’.
In reality, it will be a few years before us consumers start to feel the effects on our diets, but you might notice more and more chippies running out of cod on busy days in the coming years. Then, at some point, you could see octopus and jellyfish on the menu at your local fish and chip shop. Will you be up for trying it?
Fish and chips with Time Out
We at Time Out love a good chippy, too. Check out our picks for the best UK chip shops if you’re not in Scarborough but still fancy a cracking chippy, or have a read of Time Out’s specific guides to the fish and chip scenes in London and Brighton. Plus, you can see the UK area with the most fish and chip shops revealed.
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