Vanishing zooplankton spells disaster for fishing

THE Scottish fishing industry could be facing disaster as a result of a dramatic collapse in zooplankton – the tiny organisms at the bottom of the marine food chain – according to a conservation charity.

Zooplankton numbers have plunged in recent years, according to researchers who put together Defra's marine programme plan for 2008 to 2009. They found the rate of decline in zooplankton levels in Scottish waters has accelerated, and the numbers have dropped by three-quarters since 1960.

The charity Buglife said it could lead to a collapse in the marine food chain, as zooplankton are fed on by larger fish.

It believes climate change, leading to a warming of the oceans, is to blame.

Matt Shardlow, the director of Buglife, said the collapse in zooplankton was "a biodiversity disaster of enormous proportions".

Craig Macadam, the Scottish conservation officer with Buglife, said the decline is increasing, with a 50 per cent loss between 1960 and 1990 and then another 50 per cent loss in the next 16 years.

He said: "The implications for marine productivity and fisheries are mindboggling.

"The biomass of the seas is, or was, enormous, so this statistic must represent a very significant reduction in the number and weight of living organisms in the seas around Scotland.

"The implications for the Scottish fishing industry are deeply worrying.

"Big fish feed on little fish, so when there is a big decline in the bedrock of the marine food chain it spells trouble all down it."