The Shetland Fishermen’s Association (SFA) of Scotland has proposed maintaining the 2026 total allowable catch (TAC) for Northern Shelf cod at 2025 levels, in response to ongoing uncertainties in assessments of the stock.
SFA said that advice published earlier this week by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) proposes what it calls an "outrageous ‘zero catch’ for cod quotas" next year, but that the scheme has been marred by procedural delays, technical errors and scientific uncertainties.
An alternative proposal from the Shetland fleet highlights some of the assumptions in the ICES advice, and advocates an evidence-based approach to protect both the cod stock and fishing communities.
SFA members believe that the credibility of ICES’ stock assessment has been undermined, and that the uncertainties that beset it render the council's advice risky in its own right.
"Implementing zero catch quotas for cod would be fleet-ending madness," said SFA Chair James Anderson. "Governments cannot expect fishing businesses, surrounded by cod, to tie up for a year and still be here in 2027.
"Fishing crews in Shetland do not believe that further quota reductions would do anything to encourage growth in the cod stock, and so we are proposing a series of measures that will more successfully balance stock sustainability and economic stability, until the various scientific uncertainties around cod are better resolved."
The Shetland proposal includes: extended spawning ground closures across the North Sea and enhanced real-time closures to protect juvenile cod; voluntary 30 per cent TAC reductions for haddock and whiting to reduce cod bycatch in mixed fisheries; doubling the scientific quota available for cod studies through industry contribution, to help resolve the scientific uncertainties which plague the Northern Shelf cod stock assessment; and a TAC constraint to limit annual quota fluctuations, ensuring some stability for fishing businesses.
The SFA warns that drastic TAC cuts would devastate North Sea fishing communities, particularly in Scotland, where cod supports £310 million (US$420 million) in fishing opportunities.
The association said a much-reduced TAC also risks undermining the landing obligation by forcing vessels towards discards in such a mixed whitefish fishery, such as around Shetland, where cod is unavoidable. The alternative would be to stop fishing, tie up, and go out of business.
