Discover exactly why cod populations are falling across the UK – and how some species are on the brink of collapse
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‘It’s the predictability of it all that’s so frustrating.’ Jonny Hughes, senior UK marine policy manager at the Blue Marine Foundation, is referring to what he calls an ‘intense decline’ in UK fish stocks. It’s an issue the marine charity is dedicated to tackling, but successive governments, he says, continue to set fishing quotas too high – against all the scientific advice. ‘There’s no complexity to this: if you catch too much fish, the stocks go down.’
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Currently, four of the five UK cod stocks are at risk of collapse. The West of Scotland population has dropped an alarming 92 per cent since 1981, and the Irish Sea population has shrunk by 89 per cent since 1968. ‘Celtic Sea cod could not be more overfished,’ says Hughes, ‘to the extent that the quota this year is higher than the number of spawning fish. To my knowledge, it’s the first time that we’ve said to the fishing industry, “Catch all of them.”’
Each year, the UK and the EU set limits on the volume of fish that can be caught from the most commercially important stocks (geographically distinct populations of a single species). It’s a complex process – some of these stocks may also be shared with other countries – but it’s clear that existing quotas are pushing fish populations to the brink. The UK government itself reported last year that 54 per cent of catch limits are unsustainably high.
The problem, Hughes explains, is that when cod stocks collapse, they become a ‘choke’. A boat fishing for haddock, for instance, might also net a small amount of cod. Once the smaller cod quota is exhausted, the boat is legally prohibited from continuing to fish in the area with the same gear – as there’s no guarantee that more cod won’t be caught. It ‘chokes off ’ the entire operation.
Cod is far from the only commercially fished species that’s suffering, but it’s a catch that has historically supported the livelihoods of many UK fishermen – especially in coastal towns. Hughes says that while the inshore fishing fleet (small boats that fish in coastal waters) isn’t without responsibility, they’re not the ones driving the steep declines.
Elsewhere on the planet, there are more than 200 species of cod – almost all of which live in the cold saltwater of the northern hemisphere. Each year, the Uk consumes around 115,000 tonnes of cod each year, with 15,000 tonnes of the foodstuff originating from the North Sea.
Overfishing cod has dire consequences for their health. One recent study found that Eastern Baltic cod now grow to much smaller sizes than they did 30 years ago, as overfishing has altered their genes. Back in 1996, a Baltic cod could reach a length of more than three feet. Today, the same cod can fit into the palms of two human hands.
