An international team of scientists led by Aberdeen University have discovered that large fish in Europe are the most at threat from extinction.

A new study in Nature Ecology and Evolution has shown the bigger the fish, the more likely it is to be threatened with extinction.

This is because they are more susceptible to threats such as over-fishing due to growing slower, taking longer to mature and having fewer offspring, as well as being more sought after for food consumption or sport.

The scientists studied the status of commercial fish stocks all around Europe and found a remarkable geographic contrast.

Dr Paul Fernandes from Aberdeen University's School of Biological Sciences, explains: "In the north east Atlantic in 2014, almost twice as many stocks were sustainably fished as overfished, eight stocks were recovering - the fishing rate is not high but their populations are small - and 19 were declining - their populations are healthy but the fishing rate is now too high.

"However, in the Mediterranean Sea, almost all stocks examined in our study were overfished (36 of 39) and not one was sustainable.

"This comes down to how the areas are managed and the unique nature of the fishing communities in the two areas.

"Through this study, we have highlighted two major issues for Europe's fish: the threats to large fish and the overfishing problem in the Mediterranean."