An estimated 50,000 shipwrecks can be found around the UK’s coastline and have been acting as a hidden refuge for fish, corals and other marine species in areas still open to destructive bottom towed fishing, a new study has shown.
An estimated 50,000 shipwrecks can be found around the UK’s coastline and have been acting as a hidden refuge for fish, corals and other marine species in areas still open to destructive bottom towed fishing, a new study has shown.
Many of these wrecks have been lying on the seabed for well over a century, and have served as a deterrent to fishers who use bottom towed trawling to secure their catches.
As a result, while many areas of the seabed have been damaged significantly in areas of heavy fishing pressure, the seabed in and around shipwrecks remains largely unblemished.
The new research found that the average density of marine life was 240% greater within wreck sites than in sites actively being used for bottom towed fishing.
Read more at: University of Plymouth
A diver examines a wreck off the Berwickshire coast and captures data that were subsequently used to better understand the biodiversity which can be found on shipwrecks (Credit: marcusrose.gue)
