‘A national scandal’ Fury over large-scale disappearance of cod
Conservationists condemn government officials for failing to do enough to protect cod stocks across Scotland following a massive decline fish stocks
MINISTERS have failed to take their own scientific experts’ advice for nearly 20 years to prevent the dramatic decline of cod stocks off Scotland in what has been described as a “national scandal”.
It can be revealed that despite the advice of The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, the world’s oldest intergovernmental science organisation which has expected no catches of cod off the west coast of Scotland since 2004, it estimates that that there has been 43,504 tonnes either landed or discarded. Some conservationists believe that may be an underestimate.
Meanwhile, cod in the North Sea has lost its sustainability certification for a fourth year due to continuing worries about stock levels.
The Herald on Sunday can reveal that despite its consistent advice to stop catching cod off the west coast, the Government has consistently set an allowable catch. Conservationists have condemned Government officials, including the Scottish Government, for failing to do enough to protect cod stocks across Scotland.
There are an estimated 10,500 fish and chip shops across the UK selling 167 million fish and chip meals a year. And cod is the fish that is mostly served up.
Fifty years ago, Scotland’s fleet was routinely catching over 4,000 tonnes of cod on the west coast every year as part of a thriving industry.
But fish populations have become so low that scientists who advise governments have been advising a zerocatch policy for cod on the west coast consistently for 18 years.
No recovery
THE latest ICES advice, which states that there should be a zero catch of cod next year and in 2024, says fishing pressure on the cod stock remains far too high while spawning stock is far too low. “Stock structure remains an issue for cod,” it said. “Management measures taken so far have not resulted in a recovery of the stock.”
The expert group indicated that grey seals may even play a part in impairing recovery as there are “significant” numbers and they are “known to feed on cod among other species”.
Analysis of the ICES’s technical findings by the Scottish marine conservation charity Open Seas concludes that the adult population of cod off the west of Scotland was at its lowest in 2020.
It is estimated the west coast cod population has dropped by 92 per cent since 1981. Before the enactment of the Inshore Fishing (Scotland) Act in
1984, since 1889, there was a ban on bottom trawling within three miles of the coast providing “coastal fringe of largely undisturbed marine life”.
The prohibition was removed largely because trawling had led to an increased depletion of off-shore stocks and the mobile fishing sector – large trawlers operating in the area – wished to move inshore.
But mobile fishing, through trawling and dredging, can often come into conflict with static methods. The Scottish Creel Fishermen’s Federation (SCFF) has said the scrapping of the three-mile law has contributed to the “complete collapse” of fish stocks along Scotland’s coasts. It is pushing Holyrood to reinstate and expand on the 19th-century law by introducing a variation of the three-mile ban on trawling in certain areas.
NICK Underdown, head of campaigns with Open Seas said the decline of cod was a “national scandal”, saying governments, including the Scottish Government, have not done enough to halt the decline. He said the spawning stock of west coast cod was not believed to be at its lowest level in history. And he said that part of the problem is the result of fishermen accidentally catching smaller cod while looking for shellfish.
“It’s a double whammy, both a biodiversity and economic disaster. We’ve lost a fish that was once plentiful in our seas, and was caught both commercially and recreationally and was hugely important in many coastal communities,” he said.
“The Scottish Government never say there should be a sanction over the overfishing of our cod stocks. They want to keep the prawn fishermen happy. They should be kicking up hell. But for decades now officials and ministers from all governments have been mismanaging a public asset, ignoring the clear scientific advice to either reduce catches or stop catching cod altogether, when the signs of overfishing became clear.”
The new SCFF move comes after the Scottish Government won an appeal against judge Lady Poole’s ruling requiring it to reconsider a no-trawl scheme to protect Scotland’s marine environment.
The fishermen argued in a judicial review that the decision to reject a pilot scheme in the Inner Sound off the Isle of Skye was unlawful because the Scottish Government only took into account opposition and did not properly assess the proposal – including examining benefits and the wider issues of inshore fisheries management.
It’s a double whammy, both a biodiversity and economic disaster
The Skye pilot came amid mounting evidence that the use of trawled fishing gear inshore caused widespread ecological damage, including significant declines in the diversity and size of several commercial fish species, including cod.
The pilot was designed to test the environmental and economic benefits of creating “trawl-free” potting zones. The new petition has been put forward by Alistair “Bally” Philp on behalf of the SCFF which says the removal of the three-mile limit has resulted in a 98% decline in fish landings from the Clyde area.
The SCFF says this is “merely illustrative of the declines throughout the inshore” and says less than 5% of the inshore is protected from “damaging trawl and dredge fisheries”.