Britain’s fishing industry cannot cope with demand, according to a report.

The UK’s fish supplies only last for seven months of the year, the research by independent think-tank nef and Ocean2012 found.

The report, named Fish Dependence, points to the upcoming reform of the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy as a “unique” opportunity to turn the situation around and create a new fisheries model that will restore marine ecosystems and deliver a fair share of resources across the world.

Researchers demonstrated the impact of stock decline and rising consumption by mapping resources onto a calendar year and then finding the day when the EU and each one of its member states starts to eat the catch from the rest of the world.

It showed that if people in the UK was to only eat fish from its own supplies, it would have run out by August 3, based on current levels of consumption.

It also showed that this would now happen two weeks earlier than in 2000, revealing an increasing level of dependence on fish from elsewhere.

However, the findings showed that the UK fares better than other EU countries such as Germany which goes into fish debt on May 5 and Spain on May 10.

Each UK citizen consumes an average of 45lbs of fish a year, a similar figure to average EU consumption but well above global fish consumption of 36lbs a year, the study found.

With 72 per cent of fish stocks in European waters over-fished, the report said it is clear we need to fish and consume in a different way in order to guarantee jobs, food and incomes in the industry in the future.

Aniol Esteban, head of environmental economics at nef and co-founder of OCEAN2012, said: “We’ve cashed in the chips on our fish supplies; but we now have a big chance to restore fish stocks at the UK level and beyond.”