Cod Could Vanish From World's Oceans Within 15 Years

GLAND, Switzerland, May 19, 2004 (ENS) - The world's fishing fleets are catching 70 percent less cod now than they were 30 years ago, and in a new report, the WWF warns that if this trend continues, the world’s cod populations will disappear in 15 years.

The global catch has declined from 3.1 million metric tons in 1970 to 950,000 tons in 2000.

In the North American cod fishery, the catch has declined by 90 percent since the early 1980s, while in European waters, the catch of the North Sea cod is now just 25 percent of what it was 15 years ago.

Fish in the Barents Sea (Photo by Dr. Aleksey Zuyev, Murmansk Marine Biological Institute courtesy NOAA)

"Overfishing of cod continues because fisheries policies are driven by short-term economic interests," said Dr. Simon Cripps, director of WWF's Endangered Seas Programme.

The Barents Sea cod stock is managed by Russia and Norway and it appears to be healthy, but this may not last, the WWF warns.

The conservation organization says fish quotas for 2004 are 100,000 tons over what is considered as sustainable by scientists, and up to 100,000 tons of cod is forecast to be caught illegally every year.

"In several areas, like the North Sea and the Barents Sea, scientists are calling for lower fish quotas and cod fishing bans, but they are ignored, and business carries on as usual," Dr. Cripps said.

"The onus is on Russia and Norway to prevent the Barents Sea cod stock suffering a similar fate as the Canadian cod stock which collapsed in the 1990s and has not yet recovered," he said.

In this historic photo, Canada's cod fishery was successful. (Photo courtesy Prince Edward Island Public Archives)

WWF is calling on the Russian and Norwegian governments to immediately set stricter cod quotas, in accordance with scientists' recommendations, and to implement tighter controls of all fishing activities in the Barents Sea to reduce illegal fishing. Norway is also urged to reduce its fishing fleet capacity.

The report shows that threats to the Barents Sea cod stock are increasing with the expansion of industrial development, such as petroleum exploration and shipping activities.

WWF also fears that the growing cod farming industry could result in disease transfer to wild cod or genetic interbreeding with escaped farm fish. Climate change could also add further pressure on fish stocks in the Arctic, including cod.

"To address these new threats, the Barents Sea cod stock needs to become more resistant, especially since it consists mainly of younger cod that reproduce less frequently than the older ones," said Rasmus Hansson, CEO of WWF-Norway. "Only sound management of the fishery by the Russian and Norwegian governments will ensure the long term sustainability of the world's last large cod stock."