North Sea Cod

National Dish or Extinction Risk?

Nick Paling

 

The Decline of North Sea Cod

The International Committee for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) is the scientific organisation responsible for reporting the state of the European seas and their fish stocks to the European Union (EU) Fisheries Commission.

The chart (right), which is adapted from ICES data, shows the trend in the stocks of mature, spawning, cod in the North Sea since 1960 and clearly illustrates their steep decline over the last 30 years. The chart also shows that the current stock, estimated to be 46,000 tonnes, is well below the level of 150,000 tonnes recommended by ICES as the safe minimum and, furthermore, that during this period of decline the mortality of cod resulting from fishing has been steadily increasing.

 

“…North Sea cod stocks are at such low levels that we have had to resort to recommending zero catches…”

ICES

 

ICES believe that, because quotas have been set higher than the levels recommended by scientists for twenty years, the North Sea cod stock has been over fished and that this is the main reason for their decline. Further to this, ICES believe that the decline of cod has been accentuated by under-reporting of catches, which has led to over-estimation of the stocks, and by the slow recovery of cod stocks which they believe may take as long as 12 years in the total absence of fishing.

          Since 2002 ICES have warned European governments that, if cod fishing continues with the same level of intensity, then the North Sea cod stocks will soon collapse. In 2006, for the fifth successive year, they recommended that the EU fisheries commission implement a total ban on cod fishing in the North Sea.

 

The Response to the ICES Report

In response to the ICES report, the EU Fisheries Commission have formulated numerous plans to close cod fishing grounds in the North and Irish Seas: an area representing a third of the UK cod fishery. However, these plan have met stern opposition from the British fishing industry, represented by Ben Bradshaw the UK Fisheries Minister (right) and Ross Finnie the Scottish Fisheries Minister (far right). They claim that, in recent years, fishermen have noticed a recovery in the numbers of cod, as a result of measures already put in place to reduce fishing intensity, and that the EU plans were therefore both ‘unscientific’ and ‘unfair’ as they would have a devastating impact on the UK cod fishing industry.

          In 2004 Bradshaw and Finnie took their objection to the EU Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg and after four days of talks, in which several compromise deals were offered and all rejected, on the 22nd December 2004 the EU Fisheries Commission announced that they had reversed their decision and that no cod fishing grounds would be closed in 2005. The only concession that the EU could glean was an agreement that the number of days fishing allowed a month should be reduced from fifteen to fourteen. In 2005 and 2006 the recommendations of ICES and the EU Fisheries Commission have similarly been dismissed by the British government.

 

 

What Does the Future Hold?

The response from scientific and conservation organisations to the EU decision was immediate and scathing, with many claiming that the decision represented a short term measure and that it had placed the long-term future of the North Sea cod fishing industry in jeopardy.

          Precedents have been set by other cod fisheries that have been managed according to quota systems similar to the one currently in place in the EU. In 1993, Canadian cod fisheries collapsed after years of poor management (see panel below), illustrating the devastating effect that the collapse of a cod fishery can have. In contrast, Icelandic cod fisheries have been managed in strict accordance with the advice of their scientific advisers, and the fisheries managers have not shied away from making cuts in the industry to ensure the long-term future of the fishery (see panel below). It seems that only time will tell what the consequences of the EU’s decision will be and how severe they will be for the cod stocks in the North Sea, the cod fishing industry and for the people of Europe for whom cod has always been a nutritious and enjoyable food.

 

 

 

Changing Attitudes

          What has become clear as this debate has unfolded, is that only consumer pressure will be able to change the attitudes of politicians when planning for the future of the cod fishing industry. The power of consumers to change fisheries management has been clearly demonstrated previously, for example when altered tuna fishing approaches were needed to prevent the deaths of dolphins as by-catch. Unfortunately, consumer awareness of the plight of North Sea cod, although rapidly increasing in recent years, is at best moderate and many perceive that cod is still plentiful, without appreciating that only 10% of the 60,000 tonnes of cod consumed in the UK each year comes from UK waters. In addition, a survey conducted in 2005 revealed that very few retailers of cod products in the UK provide consumers with information about where the cod they sell has come from, how it was caught or about the issue of sustainable fish harvest (see table, right). Only three of the retailers shown were able to confirm that their cod comes from sustainable fisheries.

          Despite this, consumers in the UK have shown that they are willing to change the food that they buy, but only if alternatives are available that are clearly labelled and not more expensive. In recognition of this there are some schemes that are attempting to raise awareness of this issue and change the way that consumers select the fish that they buy. The Marine Stewardship Council has a ‘Blue Tick’ food labelling scheme that is used to indicate to consumers that a fish product has come from a sustainable source and has been harvested by an environmentally friendly method. The Marine Conservation Society also produces a ‘Good Fish Guide’, which provides similar information on what fish are ‘eco-friendly’ to eat. It is clear that the more consumers know about fish and the more they enjoy it, the more they will want to preserve it.

 

“…The demand for fish is set by the consumer…so conservation programs need to target consumers rather than the fishing industry...”                            

UK fisherman

 

Further Reading

• For further information about North Sea cod, the ICES State of the Seas Report and Cod Report are available on their website: www.ices.dk

• The Good Fish Guide is available from the Marine Conservation Society via their website:www.mcsuk.org

• The Icelandic Cod Fisheries story can be found at the websites:

    http://www.un.org/esa/agenda21/natlinfo/niau/iceland1.htm

• The latest news on the North Sea cod story can be found on the BBC news Fishing in Crisis website www.news.bbc.co.uk