This week an annual seasonal closure to protect spawning cod has come into force in the Clyde. Proposed measures to protect cod have courted controversy and the Scottish Government has u-turned on their plans, apparently to appease commercial trawl fishing interests. We share evidence of cod bycatch within the Nephrops trawl fleet that calls into question the recent decision that allows trawling to continue within a closure designed to protect spawning cod.
The Clyde cod population, which once underpinned a thriving fishery, remains in a state of collapse due in part to severe overfishing in the 1980s and 90s. The spawning stock biomass for cod is estimated to be at its lowest in recorded history.
For the past 20 years the annual seasonal spawning closure, designed to safeguard cod while they spawn, has included a number of exemptions. This has meant that [Read more…]