In the UK, we love cod. It makes up the bulk of the 167 million servings of fish and chips we get through a year. But a stark warning that cod stocks are dangerously, historically low is a signal that if we want any in the future, we have to change our ways – right now.
The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) has, for the first time, taken all cod caught in UK waters off the menu of its Good Fish Guide – the country’s definitive guide to which fish can and can’t be sustainably eaten.
It recommends that Brits “completely avoid” eating any UK-caught cod this year to give the exceedingly low stocks a chance to recover. Most UK-caught haddock, meanwhile, can be sustainably eaten, the guide says.
The MCS recommendation takes in all cod from the Northern Shelf – an area also known as the UK Continental Shelf – which covers the English Channel, the North Sea up to Norway and the west of Scotland.
And the decline in fish numbers they have seen is highly concerning – particularly in the southern region of the North Sea. It has seen stocks dive by 61 per cent over the past decade, according to the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), a body made up of 6,000 scientists from 19 countries, including the UK. Cod numbers in the north-western region around Scotland have tumbled by 37 per cent over the same period.
Overfishing is the main cause of these huge declines. Cod populations just don’t have time to recover. Add to that warming sea temperatures due to climate change, which are making the existing habitats of some fish uninhabitable and meaning cod migrate further north in search of cooler waters, and you have a crisis.
Other “ecosystem pressures” such as pollution have affected breeding and the survival rates of juvenile fish, too.
The UK Government is not blind to the risks of overfishing and has, for years, put quotas in place to limit the number of fish that can be caught in any one year. These quotas have long been a serious bone of contention with the fishing industry, as cash-strapped fishers battle the Government over the need to earn money now on the one hand, and to sustain fish supplies for the future on the other.
In December, the Government announced a 44 per cent cut in Northern Shelf cod fishing for 2026 compared to last year. The decision was made in annual negotiations with the EU and Norway about their shared stocks, and it was made after ICES warned fish stocks were so low that it was recommending a “zero-catch policy for 2026” that would cease fishing of cod in Northern Shelf waters for the year.
The eventual 44 per cent cut to the total allowable catch (TAC), or quota, goes significantly further than the 25 per cent reduction that had been proposed by the Northern Fishing Alliance (NFA) of countries, a commercial grouping which includes fishermen and industry leaders from the UK, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Belgium and France.
But it falls far short of the ICES recommendation. Last September, ICES said that at this stage of decline, commercial fishing would risk pushing cod populations in the North Sea below the numbers needed to adequately sustain numbers for the future. That recommendation sparked outrage in the fishing industry. The NFA branded it “an ultra-precautionary approach” and fishers argued that such a move would devastate livelihoods.
Whether it is over-cautious or not, the Marine Conservation Society has just echoed the ICES’ advice with its recommendation not to eat UK-caught cod this year. That being the case, while UK cod will still be available to eat this year, now is the time to give it a swerve.
That doesn’t mean you can’t have any cod at all, though. At the supermarket or fishmonger, the origin of the fish should be easy to establish. But next time you go to the chippy, ask where the cod comes from. If it’s from Iceland (or, less likely, the Bering Sea or Gulf of Alaska), then you’re fine.
But if you’re met with a blank stare, maybe try hake, which, according to the Marine Conservation Society, “is similar to cod but has healthy UK stock levels” and is increasingly becoming available in chip shops.
You could also try haddock caught in the North Sea, West of Scotland or Iceland (which isn’t subject to the same dwindling supplies) instead of cod, as the MCS gives them the thumbs up.
Whether you buy hake, haddock or pollock, buy British if you can. That will help boost fishers’ finances, already stretched and further reduced as a result of this year’s cut to the cod quota.
I switched from cod to haddock for my chippy teas a few years back. I actually preferred its more delicate, slightly sweeter flavour and flakier texture. I’ve had it ever since. Mushy peas or curry sauce? That’s up to you.
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