There is an upside to climate change

PREVIOUS generations ate a lot of shellfish - they overfished stocks almost to extinction, a process aided by pollution.

But a positive side to modern climate change is that it may lead to a revival of our shellfish and the opportunity to develop fisheries for other warm water species, such as tuna, according to a Marine Institute report.

From the discovery of shells on archaeological sites, we know that periwinkles, cockles, oysters and limpets were an important source of food going back thousands of years. Oysters were abundant, with collectors reaping bountiful harvests in one famous fishery - Galway Bay.