Warming seas are bringing octopus, red mullet and sea bream to UK waters, forcing fishermen to rethink their catches and chefs to learn about Mediterranean species.

Rising sea temperatures are bringing Mediterranean marine species to British waters, forcing local fishermen to change the way they work and encouraging chefs to rethink their menus.Species such as octopus, red mullet and various species of bream are now appearing in record numbers along the south-west coast of England. According to the Marine Biological Society, the ongoing octopus bloom has spread from the Mediterranean due to warming sea temperatures, causing severe damage to local shellfish populations.This rapid change in marine life means that traditional catches such as cod and mackerel are disappearing from the area, while warm-water predators and southern fish species are becoming more common.

Metamorphoses on water

For anglers in Cornwall, these changing catches mean they have to completely rethink how they fish. Buck Bennett, a crab and lobster fisherman from Newquay, said he had seen more red mullet and different species of bream than ever before, showing the industry is going through permanent change.“We’ve always caught red mullet, but the numbers that have been weak the last couple of years seem to be increasing dramatically,” Bennett said.

He added: “When you look at them they are Mediterranean fish, but also black bream, gilthead bream, sea bream, and again, something we can catch but in very small numbers.” “So I think the industry over the next three, five, seven, 10 years, it’s anyone’s guess, we could catch fish and have to completely change our fishing methods.”The south-west was once the center of Britain’s mackerel fishing during the 1970s, but today “nobody can fish for mackerel anymore,” Bennett said.Instead, some local fishermen have begun targeting yellowfin tuna. A local boat recently caught a tuna weighing 130 kg. Bennett believes the UK fishing fleet will eventually receive official tuna quotas as the species becomes more common in British waters.Adapting to these changes comes at a significant financial cost. Bennett is already wondering whether new species of warm-water crabs will arrive, rendering his current equipment useless.

Replacing the traditional 600-700 crab pots to fit the new ones could cost more than £100,000.“I think every way you look at it it’s going to put pressure on the industry, especially the industry here,” Bennett said. “We are all in a state of uncertainty, no one has been in this situation before, so no one knows what will happen next week, next month, or in six months. That’s why it’s so worrying, because you don’t know whether you can adapt or not, because you don’t know what you have to adapt to at the moment.

All we can see is a lack, we can’t see a gain, we can only see a lack.”

Octopus bloom cost

Growing octopus populations directly reduce the supply of other valuable seafood. Ian Birks, a fish trader based in Brixham, said the large number of octopuses was harming local fish stocks because they eat between 6% and 8% of their body weight every day.Birks estimates that the octopus eats about 10,000 kilograms of local shellfish a day, and has recently begun feeding on squid as well.“These fish lay 180,000 eggs and only live for two years, but you only need one percent of those eggs to succeed,” Birx said. “We’re not seeing a lot of squid now, we’re not seeing mackerel, no cod, no pollock, no squid – these are all species that we look to buy at this time of year but don’t see.”

New ingredients on the menu

Changes in marine life are now reaching restaurant kitchens. Jamie Park, head chef at Adam Handling Group, relies on Bennett’s daily catch and is already changing his menus to match what’s now available from the sea.Park believes the famous Cornish crab may soon disappear from menus in southern England, forcing chefs to buy it from cold waters around north Wales, Ireland and the North Atlantic. Meanwhile, restaurants in the south are likely to see more Mediterranean seafood.To respond to the immediate situation, Park recently added local octopus to the menu at his Tartan Fox pub near Newquay. This turned the environmental problem into a new dining experience for customers.“I chose to showcase the octopus because of what’s happening in the industry right now – it’s here, it’s in our waters and fishermen are catching it,” Park said.“Customers have told us they’re an invasive species right now, and they’ve kind of taken over the water, and they’re eating all the native species, and they’re also disturbing the local fishermen and causing problems,” he said. “We’re almost making guests part of the solution, telling them come eat more octopus, you’re doing everyone a favor at the end of the day.”The long-term outlook means that British chefs will need to learn how to prepare many unfamiliar types of seafood.“I’m going to have to get an encyclopedia of Mediterranean fish to start understanding the newer species,” Park said. “As long as I can source these ingredients that we love responsibly, in a sustainable way, through small, independent fishermen, I will continue to offer them, but if Buck calls me tomorrow and says we can’t do this anymore because of the X-reason, we will adapt and we will move with the times.”