Fish with strange looks and names that lurk in the gloomy depths of the North Atlantic may offer the last hope for a viable European fishing industry in the next century, marine scientists say.
Orange roughy, roundnose grenadier, blue ling and black scabbard are among the species most likely to appear on fishmongers' slabs over the next decade as fishing fleets venture into unfamiliar waters in pursuit of new prey.
Scientists from 11 countries begin a four-day conference in Hull today to exchange information on the state of such deep-sea stocks and to discuss how to avoid the rival exploitation that has stripped the North Sea of much of its marine life. Such familiar species as cod, haddock and whiting, which are caught in the shallow inshore waters above the continental shelf round Britain, have been fished so heavily that spawning stocks may never fully recover.
John Tumilty, technical director of the Sea Fish Industry Authority and a conference organiser, said: "We think there are deep-water fish in commercial quantities out beyond the shelf to the west of the British Isles, but we need to know much more about their biology if we are to devise a sensible management policy. Fishing in such waters also has implications for the power and design of vessels, gear such as nets and winches, and echo sounders and other equipment used to locate fish shoals."
Most of the North Sea is no deeper than 100 metres, whereas the fish living on the slopes, ridges and troughs beyond the continental shelf are found between 500 and 2,000 metres. Alasdair McIntyre, Emeritus Professor of Fisheries and Oceanography at Aberdeen University, who is co-chairing the conference, fears that Britain is being left behind. "French, Spanish and some German boats are already exploiting these deep-water stocks and will thus have the claim to the lion's share of any catch quotas imposed in future," he said.
Only about 30 of the 11,000 vessels in the British fleet have enough freezer storage space and engine power to stay out at sea for up to a month and to tow and haul nets at depth.
Deep-water species, despite their inaccessibility, are vulnerable to overfishing. They grow slowly, partly because their food supplies are scarcer, and take decades to reach maturity. Stocks that seem abundant can be wiped out in a few seasons, as has happened to orange roughy in some New Zealand waters.
