Here's why fish and chips could soon be replaced with squid and chips
LONDON -- There are few things in the United Kingdom that are as sacred as our beloved fish and chips.
But, all that this great nation holds dear could be under threat, as ecologists warn that by 2025 fish and chips as we know it could be a thing of the past. According to Dr John Pinnegar -- a marine climate change researcher from the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) -- the trusty battered cod and chips could be replaced with -- wait for it -- squid and chips.
And, it's all because of climate change. Pinnegar -- who presented his research Monday at the British Ecological Society conference -- said UK waters are warming due to climate change and cold water fish such as cod are gradually being replaced by warm water species such as squid.
"UK consumers enjoy eating quite a limited range of seafood, but in the long term we will need to adapt our diets," Pinnegar said in a statement emailed to Mashable.
"In 2025 and beyond, we may need to replace cod and other old favourites with warm-water species such as squid, mackerel, sardine and red mullet," Pinnegar continued.
Cefas analysed the locations and temperatures of where fish were being caught and detected "long-term changes" in the quantities of certain fish to make predictions about the future of the North Sea, where much of the UK's fish is caught.
The data revealed that squid numbers have increased dramatically over the past 35 years, while cod numbers have been "slow to recover" after they were heavily overfished in the 1980s and 1990s. "Our models for 2025 and beyond suggest that seawater temperature may continue to rise in the future. As a result, UK waters will become more hospitable for some species and less suitable for others, with the overall result that most commercial species will move northwards," says Pinnegar.
"I would anticipate that currently small-scale fisheries targeting warm-water species such as squid, sardine and anchovy will continue to expand. They will probably represent a greater share of UK fisheries catches in 10 years’ time,” Pinnegar continued. Not sure "squid and chips" has quite the same ring to it, unfortunately.
Rachel Thompson is the Features Editor at Mashable. Rachel's second non-fiction book The Love Fix: Reclaiming Intimacy in a Disconnected World is out now, published by Penguin Random House in Jan. 2025. The Love Fix explores why dating feels so hard right now, why we experience difficult emotions in the realm of love, and how we can change our dating culture for the better.
A leading sex and dating writer in the UK, Rachel has written for GQ, The Guardian, The Sunday Times Style, The Telegraph, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Stylist, ELLE, The i Paper, Refinery29, and many more.
Rachel's first book Rough: How Violence Has Found Its Way Into the Bedroom And What We Can Do About It, a non-fiction investigation into sexual violence was published by Penguin Random House in 2021.
