Cod and chips could be off the menu due to climate change, a study claims.

The study, published in The Proceedings of the RoyalSociety Biological Sciences journal, claims that Britain‘s favourite fish will disappear due a one degree temperature rise in the North Sea.

This has affected fragile eco-systems on which the cod rely to survive.

Cod larvae feed on species of plankton which have migrated to cooler waters. The lower number of cod has in turn has resulted in greater numbers of jellyfish and crabs, on which the adult cod feed.

The knock-on effect has been a decline in plaice and sole as their young are eaten by the crabs.

Stricter fishing quotas or even a ban may not be enough to save the cod, warn the study’s author’s Dr Richard Kirby and Dr Gregory Beaugrand.

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