Proposed Northern Shelf Cod Fisheries Management Plan

Executive Summary

The Northern Shelf cod (Gadus morhua) fisheries management plan (FMP) is one of 43 FMPs set out in the Joint Fisheries Statement (JFS). The FMP has been developed by the Scottish Government in collaboration with UK scientists, regulators, statutory nature conservation bodies (SNCBs) and stakeholders.

This FMP sets out the policies and actions to manage the Northern Shelf cod stock at sustainable levels, ensuring that it can continue to play a key role in providing positive socio-economic benefits to the UK. The FMP also sets out a number of actions to improve the scientific evidence base underpinning the stock, along with actions to improve management, in particular actions to be undertaken in collaboration with other Coastal States. The FMP applies to the sustainable management of the Northern Shelf cod fishery within UK waters in International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) Subarea 4 (North Sea), and Divisions 6.a (West of Scotland) and 7.d (Eastern Channel), and has been developed in line with the fisheries objectives of the Fisheries Act 2020 (the ‘2020 Act’) and as required by the JFS.

This FMP covers the Northern Shelf cod fishery in UK waters. Overall management of this fishery is shared with Coastal State partners. This international context is important to understand in relation to sustainability and wider management issues, particularly when considering the joint measures that have been established to improve the evidence base and the health of the stock over the years. Fishing opportunities for Northern Shelf cod are managed principally by total allowable catches (TACs), although a range of other technical measures are in place, for example to reduce unwanted catches or protect spawning fish. The setting of TACs can be an effective way of managing fishing pressure on fish stocks, although in the case of Northern Shelf cod this is made challenging by the existence of a number of substocks. TACs and other joint management measures are agreed through international negotiations which are guided by the best available scientific advice, whilst also balancing environmental, social and economic factors. The principles followed by the UK in relation to international fisheries negotiations are laid out in the JFS under section 4.2.

The evidence base underpinning Northern Shelf cod has evolved over a number of years, and most recently has led to a revised assessment model which has combined the previously separate assessments for West of Scotland cod and North Sea cod, into one single assessment as Northern Shelf cod. This evidence base continues to develop, and the FMP sets out action being undertaken on stock genetics, which will refine our understanding further and should support improved management in the future.

The stock structure of Northern Shelf cod is complex, and it consists of three different substocks. This means that, whilst sufficient evidence is available for the relevant fisheries policy authorities to make an annual assessment of maximum sustainable yield (MSY) for each of three substocks, it is not currently possible to enact fisheries management at the substock level as the spatial extent of each substock throughout the year is not known. One of the actions of this FMP is focussed on addressing that data gap.

The relevant fisheries policy authorities have set catch limits based on the MSY estimates for each substock in recent years, however the TAC advice for 2026 published by ICES on 23 September 2025 indicates that the stock is still being fished above FMSY. This FMP uses information based on the 2026 ICES stock advice sheet.

This FMP describes a vision with policies and actions which set out how management can support an MSY approach^[1] for the Northern Shelf cod fishery, and highlights areas that could lead to improvements to management approaches in the future. Areas for action include those which support the wider delivery of policies within the JFS and which contribute to the delivery of the objectives contained within the 2020 Act.