North Sea cod could be back on menu as fish numbers improve
NORTH sea cod may be coming back to fish and chip shops around Britain, giving the country’s £6bn seafood industry a major boost.
The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) has removed cod from its “do not eat” list after strict controls were brought in to protect the species following years of overfishing brought the populations to the edge of extinction.
Numbers have now recovered to the stage where the MCS has moved it to the amber category for fish that can occasionally be eaten.
Overall seafood consumed in the UK increased by 3.3 per cent in 2014, to £6.33bn. Meanwhile, fish and chip shops alone contribute £1.2bn to the UK economy.
“It is encouraging to see this change in scoring from the MCS,” the council’s North Atlantic director, Toby Middleton, said. “The signs of improvement are there.” However, most of the 50,000 tonnes of cod sold in fish and chip shops will continue to be sourced from the Arctic Sea.