The usual suspects are behind the slow recovery in cod stocks along Scotland’s West coast, new research contends.
A report featured in the latest edition of the Journal of Applied Ecology argues that while fishing has halved over the years as a means to reinvigorate Scotland’s cod population, predatory seals have moved in and are consuming over 40 percent of the struggling stock.
“It appears that fishing played a major part in the decline of the cod but increasing predation by seals is preventing the stock from recovering, even though the amount of fishing has reduced," said Robin Cook, a senior research fellow for the University of Strathclyde's Department of Mathematics and Statistics and leader of the current study.
When faced with the reality that cod value had fallen to barely 5 percent of what it was in 1981, the European Union (EU) enacted a recovery plan – aptly titled the EU Cod Recovery Plan – that curbed fishing, which was removing about 50 percent of the cod stock out of Scotland’s West coast waters. The plan stipulates that fishermen are only allowed to spend a set amount of time at sea and return with a set amount of stock. Unfortunately, the plan does not account for seals – a familiar cod predator — Cook noted.
As a result, fishery managers are now charged with striking a hard balance: “With high predation by seals, the cod stock will struggle to improve and the Recovery Plan may not deliver the expected results. We may have to live with smaller cod stocks if we want to protect our seals," Cook said.
Seal populations have seen an influx on the West Coast of Scotland, with their numbers amassing to 30,000-40,000 as of late. Historically, seals have been blamed for reductions in Atlantic cod stocks, what with grey seals believed to be consuming almost 7,000 metric tons of cod each year west of Scotland.
According to reports, landed catches of cod in the area presently only amount to a few hundred metric tons.
