Industry and science working to rebuild Celtic Sea cod
Dr Paul Connolly, Marine Institute, explains
The latest assessment for Celtic Sea cod is given in the figure below and shows the stock size since 1971. The graph indicates that the stock is ‘just at’ the safe limit of 10,000 tonnes (green dashed line); however it is predicted to go below this limit over the next few years (blue line) at current levels of fishing. The latest scientific advice for Celtic Sea cod calls for a 17% reduction in fishing mortality in order to rebuild the stock by 2006. This corresponds to a Total Allowable Catch (TAC) of 5,200 tonnes for 2005.
The cod fishery
Celtic Sea cod are taken in mixed trawl fisheries. Landings are made mainly by French trawlers targeting cod, haddock and whiting. In 2003, total international landings were 6,000 tonnes, with France accounting for 84% and UK and Ireland 6% each. Belgian vessels take about 2%. Cod landings occur throughout the year, but mainly in the winter months during November-April, with a peak in February-March.
Cod biology
Most cod spawning in the Celtic Sea occurs off northern Cornwall in mid to late March. There is also some spawning off southeast Ireland and a little in the Western Channel. Tagging studies have given no evidence of cod movement out of the Celtic Sea area. There appears to be a simple inshore-offshore migration between deep-water wrecks and reefs in the summer and inshore spawning areas in the winter. Marine Institute tagging work in the Irish Sea suggests that only a small component of cod landings from the Celtic Sea are fish that spawn in the Irish Sea. Furthermore, no cod tagged in the Celtic Sea were recaptured in the Irish Sea.
The issue
In early 2004, concern over the state of the Celtic Sea cod stock gave rise to discussions between the Commission, the Irish industry and scientists on the possibility of a recovery plan. It was agreed that any measures would have to have a real impact and also have the support of France and the UK. Throughout the year, a proposal was built between France, UK and Ireland, founded on scientific work that clearly identified candidate areas for closure, but also evaluated their positive impacts.
Proposal
The proposal centers on the closure of three rectangles during the first quarter of the year (yellow boxes on map below). These areas are very important spawning areas for cod and have high catch rates during the first quarter of the year. There was also a proposal to close further areas of the south Irish coast. It was also recognized that the small Irish vessels had no place to go if these areas were closed. Overall, a balanced and sensible proposal was built, which will result in reducing fishing mortality by about 18%. This is consistent with the scientific advice for the stock.
Scientists have welcomed this proposal, which has been adopted by the Fisheries Council with a one month derogation, in either January or March, for beam trawlers. The proposal meets the biological objectives whilst maintaining the socio-economic objective of continued viability of the fishery.
Overall, EU fish stocks are not in a healthy state and need to be rebuilt. In order to achieve this, the need for scientists, managers and industry to continue to work together is greater than ever. The new Regional Advisory Councils (RACs) will greatly help this process. There can be no doubt that the Celtic Sea cod proposal is a large step in the right direction.