Scientists offer hope for North Sea fishing

STOCKS of North Sea cod – said to have been on the brink of total collapse only six years ago – could return to sustainable levels, according to a new report published yesterday by Scottish marine scientists.

The new assessment by scientists at the Government’s Fisheries Research Services (FRS) laboratory in Aberdeen is part of a detailed report on the state of fish stocks in Scotland’s waters.

But the scientists warn that the rebuilding of the precious stocks can only be achieved if fish mortality remains at its current low levels.

In 2002 an international committee of marine scientists claimed that every whitefish fishery in Scottish waters would have to close for up to 12 years if cod stocks were to have even a remote chance of recovering from complete commercial collapse.

The Advisory Committee of the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES), the group that advises European fisheries ministers on the state of the stocks, warned that a blanket catching ban would have to last at least five years to replenish stocks from a record low. Up to 60 per cent of the fishable stock was being removed annually from the North Sea.

But the new report by the FRS has given the most upbeat, though still guarded, assessment of the health of North Sea cod stocks since the "doomsday" forecast by ICES six years ago.

The report states that the stock is still at risk of being harvested unsustainably and suffering reduced reproductive capacity.

However scientists continue: "Fishing mortality has shown a slight decline since 2000. The 19992004 year classes (juvenile cod) are all estimated to have been well below average; the 2005 year class is estimated to be more abundant, but well below average levels.

"The 2005 year class is below average but large enough to represent an opportunity to rebuild, with the potential to increase the spawning stock biomass."

The report adds: "Reports from the 2006 fishery indicated that current regulations are beginning to control the level of underreporting, but increased levels of discarding were also being recorded.
"Rebuilding can only be achieved if fishing mortality is sufficiently constrained at a very low level."

Bertie Armstrong, the chief executive of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation, welcomed the report’s findings.

He said: "This is certainly the most optimistic report there has been for years and that in itself is good news."

The report, he claimed, showed schemes to take vessels out of the Scottish whitefish fleet and the technical conservation measures implemented by Scottish fishermen were beginning to pay dividends.

Mr Armstrong added: "Our efforts have been redoubled. We want to see cod recovered and we want to see discards reduced and both of those issues are being worked on together."

Dr Bill Turrell, the FRS fisheries management programme director, said the principal aim was to provide an accurate summary of the current state of commercial fish stocks.