02 Jul 2019

Oceana ‘The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) has announced today the collapse of the North Sea cod population, and has recommended reducing its catch limits by 70% for 2020. In order to revert its critical situation, Oceana strongly encourages EU decision-makers to follow this advice, which is the result of an updated scientific […]

22 Jul 2017

North Sea cod recover: MSC A recovery from near total collapse has led North Sea cod stocks to be labelled as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council for the first time in 20 years. Guardian: Fish and chip lovers can now enjoy North Sea cod with a clear conscience, after the fishery was awarded sustainable […]

09 Jan 2017

Defra: ‘As of 1 January, the next phase of the discard ban starts with fishermen now having to land cod and pollack. Further action to boost sustainable fishing begins as the next phase of the discard ban for demersal species comes into force, announced Fisheries Minister George Eustice. The discard ban, also known as the […]

26 Sep 2016

North sea cod catch quota trials: Final Report 2015 MMO: A trial was undertaken in 2015 with 18 vessels in the North Sea. Each vessel was fitted with Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM) and was required to operate under a discard ban for North Sea (Area IV) cod. Additional quota for use in fully documented fisheries […]

03 May 2016

This article has some wonderful quotes ‘managing cod is not rocket science, it is more complicated than that’, ‘try doing that in the EU’ (i.e. managing a fishery), ‘Commercial fishermen used to be at loggerheads with scientists demanding stock control…. But we have established a level of trust … as soon as they recognise our […]

04 Jan 2016

Marine protected Areas are widely used to safeguard marine ecosystems across Europe. This study investigated the effect of a partially protected areas (PPA) off the coast of Norway on a population of cod (Gadus morhua). The PPA reduced the number of deaths due to fishing, increased survival and stimulated movement to surrounding areas. The authors […]

29 Sep 2015

MCS ‘The iconic European cod fishery which collapsed in the 1980s and has been ailing ever since, has finally increased above dangerously low levels and hauled itself off the MCS Fish to Avoid list. As part of the MCS autumn update to FishOnline (www.fishonline.org), North Sea cod is now rated 4 and amber, which means it’s showing signs […]