Clyde cod spawning closure Spring 2024/25: consultation

Since 2001, a specific area in the Firth of Clyde has been closed to fishing each year between 14 February and 30 April in order to protect spawning cod. This consultation is seeking views on the continuation of this closure for 2024 and 2025.


Footnotes

1. The Sea Fish (Prohibition on Fishing) (Firth of Clyde) (No. 2) Order 2022

2. ICES advice on Cod (Gadus morhua) in Division 6.a (West of Scotland), published 30 June 2022

3. International Council for the Exploration of the Sea.

4. Clarke, J., Bailey, D.M. and Wright, P.J., 2015. Evaluating the effectiveness of a seasonal spawning area closure. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 72(9), pp.2627-2637.

5. Wright, P. J., Galley, E., Gibb, I. M., and Neat, F. C. (2006) Fidelity of adult cod to spawning grounds in Scottish waters. Fisheries Research, 77: 148-158.

6. Wright, P. J., Neat, F. C., Gibb, F. M., Gibb, I. M., and Thordarson, H. (2006) Evidence for metapopulation structuring in cod from the west of Scotland and North Sea. Journal of Fish Biology, 69: 181-199.

7. Heath, M. R., Culling, M. A., Crozier, W. W., Fox, C. J., Gurney, W. S. C., Hutchinson, W. F., Nielsen, E. E., Wright, PJ, Calvalho, G. (2014). Combination of genetics and spatial modelling highlights the sensitivity of cod (Gadus morhua) population diversity in the North Sea to distributions of fishing. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 71: 794-807.

8. Future Fisheries Management Strategy 2020-2030

Contact

Email: clydecodclosure@gov.scot

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