Zoe finishes her PhD and reflects on her time working with SEACHANGE
After successfully defending my PhD thesis in November, I reflect here on my incredible journey as a PhD student with the ERC funded SEACHANGE project. This project allowed me to pursue my core research interest: the drivers and impacts of long-term fisheries exploitation on marine ecosystems, fisheries productivity, and dependent communities. By diving deep into archival data, my work reconstructs fisheries development and ecosystem change in the North Sea over centuries, critically capturing the era of fisheries industrialisation. This long-term perspective is essential for addressing shifting baseline syndrome- the tendency for each generation to accept a progressively degraded ecosystem as ‘normal’- and for informing more ambitious, historically grounded marine and fisheries management.
Archival research and data discovery
I was particularly struck by the quality and depth of digitised archival records available in the UK. These included remarkably consistent long-term fisheries landings data, highly detailed Government inquiries and thousands of historical newspaper articles, which allowed me to reconstruct extensive fisheries time-series, social–ecological system dynamics and human–environment interactions over multiple centuries.
In 2022, I was hosted at Fishmongers’ Hall in London where I worked through extensive collections of uncatalogued material and began organising and extracting key data on the UK’s largest inland fish market, Billingsgate. This archival work expanded to other London repositories and an archive in Orkney, and I became an avid collector of library cards. These visits were invaluable for learning archival research practices, handling historical documents and building novel datasets from primary sources. I also had the opportunity to assist on an archaeological dig in Orkney, further broadening my understanding of historical evidence and methods.
Fieldwork and interdisciplinary experience
A major highlight of my first year was participating in the DY150 North Sea research cruise. I served as a designated Marine Mammal Observer for the seismic team, a role in which I became unexpectedly popular after spotting zero whales, thereby avoiding operational delays. Beyond this, I spent time assisting the sediment coring team and the eDNA team, working late into the night in hazmat suits in a windowless laboratory soundtracked by heavy metal music- quite the fever dream.
The cruise was an extraordinary experience, particularly sheltering from a storm in an Icelandic fjord, surrounded by snowcapped mountains and breaching humpback whales. This fieldwork reinforced the value of interdisciplinary collaboration and hands-on research at sea.
I also attended several SEACHANGE annual project meetings in Cornwall, Orkney, Denmark and Germany. These gatherings provided fantastic opportunities to meet or reconnect with colleagues across European universities, share research progress, exchange ideas and explore new collaborations.
Conferences and research community
SEACHANGE funding enabled me to present my research at two international conferences. I attended Oceans Past X (2024), hosted at the University of Exeter’s Penryn Campus by Ruth Thurstan, and the International Marine Conservation Congress (2024) in Cape Town, South Africa. Both conferences brought together inspiring communities of historical ecologists, marine scientists, and conservation practitioners and provided invaluable opportunities for feedback and knowledge exchange.
Publications and research outputs
I have published two chapters from my PhD in peer-reviewed journals. The first examines the UK’s expanding global reach for seafood since 1900, showing how declining domestic landings and fishing opportunities drove increased demand for seafood imports from increasing numbers of countries, ultimately leading to the export of associated ecological and social impacts (Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries). This research attracted media attention, featuring in Oceanographic Magazine, and led to an invitation to speak on BBC Radio 4. The second focuses on technological creep in North Sea fisheries over the past century, analysing the development, adoption, and displacement of increasingly destructive fishing gears across sectors, and how technological change, management interventions, and wider ecological and political drivers influenced landings trajectories (Fish and Fisheries, in press). In addition, I co-authored a paper, led by Ismet Saygu, on historical modelling of the North Sea (Frontiers in Marine Science), and have a further chapter under review on the historical distribution, extent, and exploitation of blue mussel beds in Scotland (Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science).
Why does this research matter?
By placing modern fisheries and management challenges in a long-term historical context, this research helps reveal what has been lost, how we got here, and how insights from the past can help define credible targets for ecosystem recovery and inform pathways for long-term fisheries sustainability.
I would like to thank my supervisors, Ruth Thurstan and Callum Roberts, as well as the wider SEACHANGE community, for their immense support, guidance and inspiration.
