| Let the cod help us improve the environment! |
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| Friday, 28 May 2010 10:49 |
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The annual advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) show that the eastern stock has increased to levels comparable to those in the 1980’s.
ICES concludes that the cod stock has improved and recommends a quota increase of 15%, which is in line with the management plan. However, it is also important to develop management plans for herring and sprat in the Baltic Sea so that the interaction between species in the ecosystem can be ensured. ”We are pleased about the strong recovery of the cod stocks, but they are not yet at levels that we consider desirable and long term sustainable. We know now that to improve the water quality it is significant with a viable stock. Therefore politicians and managers need to adopt a holistic view – the ability of the ecosystem to produce fish and improving the water quality are intimately linked. ”, says Katarina Veem, program director at Baltic Sea 2020. A number of scientific studies show that a strong cod stock can reduce the effects of eutrophication. A viable cod stock would limit the amount of sprat and herring, which cod feeds on. Sprat and herring eat zooplankton which in turn eat phytoplankton. In recent years, when the stocks of herring and sprat have been at all time high there has been an increase of phytoplankton. If the amount of zooplankton would increase, the amount of phytoplankton would decrease and result in improved water quality. Within five to ten years visible improvements of the Baltic Sea environment will be a fact if the cod stocks would be viable. Other measures demand much longer time before results can be expected.
The decision process of the cod quotasE: Eastern Stock
For further comments:Katarina Veem, Program Director, Baltic Sea 2020, tel +46 (0) 8 673 97 65, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it |
