By 1990, the UK had three marine reserves –measuring 200km2 throughout the entirety of the British Isles. These – to some degree – protected species and habitats from damaging activity. Added to this was the nascent European marine protected area network, called Natura 2000 as a result of the Habitats and Birds Directives – EU Directives designed to protect and restore biodiversity as a result of the original Rio Biodiversity Convention (COP) in 1992.
Apocalypse Now: The True Cost of Overfishing
Political decisions over recent decades have brought many of the UK’s fish populations, and the fisheries dependent upon them, to the point of collapse. At the heart of this failure lies continues and extensive overfishing.
15 September 2026
