Britain’s ageing fishing fleet a key contributor to climate crisis: report

Environmentalists call for fisheries to move away from carbon-spewing engines and climate-harming practices such as bottom trawling

Half the UK's fishing fleet is at least 30 years old and uses fuel oil that is particularly polluting, according to a report that examines the outsized impact of British ships on the climate crisis.

UK fisheries are estimated to have emitted 914.4 kilotons of CO₂ over a one-year period, equivalent to the annual energy use of more than 110,000 homes, the report by the Marine Conservation Society (MCS), WWF and RSPB says.