Cod and haddock 'may vanish' from Scotland's west coast

Cod, herring and haddock could migrate away from Scotland's west coast waters because of warming sea temperatures, according to researchers.Scientists at the Scottish Association for Marine Science (Sams) predict the cold water species will vanish from the west coast by the year 2100.

The researchers suggest the fish are already nearing "edge of their temperature tolerance range".

However, they add that global warming will see other species replace them.

Cod, herring and haddock are commercially important species to Scotland.

The researchers at Sams, which is near Oban and part of the University of the Highlands and Islands, warn that climate change could lead to the fish moving away to colder waters further north.

'Sustainable fisheries'

But over the forthcoming decades these species would "gradually be replaced by more abundant communities" of saithe, hake and whiting, the scientists said.

They said that from 1985 to 2013 the population of saithe and hake had increased four-fold off Scotland's west coast.

Sams research has been published in the journal Scientific Reports.

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