Proposed Northern Shelf Cod Fisheries Management Plan

Why an FMP for Northern Shelf cod?

Northern Shelf cod is a whitefish species caught as part of a mixed whitefish fishery both within and outwith UK waters. Consisting of substocks from the North Sea and the West of Scotland, Northern Shelf cod is a commercial species of key importance within UK waters that is caught by the UK, EU and Norwegian fleets. Northern Shelf cod is one of the most valuable demersal species in European waters: just under 15,000 tonnes were landed by UK vessels into the UK in 2022, with a value of just over £54 million, the most of any demersal species for 2022. ^[2]

Northern Shelf cod is also what we often term an ‘iconic’ stock, which reflects its cultural and political importance, and its wider economic importance to the UK fishing fleet. The health of the Northern Shelf cod substock has fluctuated over a number of years, and a significant amount of work has been undertaken to improve its management and overall sustainability, with considerable resource expended by the fisheries policy authorities, fishing industry, scientists and academics, to driving forward improvements. The policies and actions set out in the FMP set out how we will continue to build on this work.