Canada’s northern cod fishery improvement project is making progress, the stock is outside the critical zone

The industry-led Northern Cod Fishery Improvement Project (FIP) in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, is making progress and the stock is now outside a critical zone and improving, according to the latest data.

A group of stakeholders in the FIP – including the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP), Marks & Spencer, Youngs Seafoods, Sysco France, High Liner Foods, Ocean Choice International, Icewater Seafoods, the Association of Seafood Producers (ASP), the Atlantic Groundfish Council (AGC), Marine Stewardship The Council and government officials from Canada met in Barcelona the day before the opening of Seafood Expo Global to discuss the ongoing project. Founded in 2015, the industry-led FIP has been working to restore North Atlantic cod stocks on Canada’s east coast – a fishery that was once among the largest in the world but collapsed in 1992.

That collapse led to a lengthy moratorium on the fishery, and only a small “stewardship” fishery now exists on the stock. The total allowable catch for the cod fishery in 2024 is 12,999 tonnes, up from 12,350 tonnes in 2023 and 2022, and up from the 2018 quota of 9,500 tonnes.

The latest news from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada indicates that the stock is improving, and that the limit reference point – a metric that defines the beginning of a stock’s “danger zone” – has been revised based on historical data in the fishing. According to a release from the Atlantic Groundfish Council and the Association of Seafood Producers, this means the stock is now 20 percent above LRP and outside the critical zone.

“There have been encouraging updates on the science of northern cod over the past year, paving the way for a sustainable commercial fishery,” said SFP Chairman Jim Cannon. “At the same time, the FIP and its world-class acoustic research continues to bring together industry, academics and government to improve knowledge and inform fisheries management for generations to come.”

As part of the FIP, the ASP and the AGC launched an $8.5 million (8 million euros) initiative in 2019 to tag and track cod. Through the project, the groups have collected several years of telemetry data that they called exciting in May 2023. .

In the latest update to the FIP, the groups announced that from March 2024, more than 1,000 cod have been tagged as part of the acoustic research project, which includes a 700 kilometer acoustic detection array. That array has 75 receiving stations that collect telemetry data, which has contributed to the scientific understanding of the species, the organizations said.

FIP participants announced an additional $500,000 (€469,000) from the Atlantic Fisheries Fund for the period 2024-2025, intended to help revamp the fishery and tag more cod so FIP science can advance be expanded.

During the stakeholder meeting, commercial stakeholders for the stock said they remain committed to the recovery of the fishery.

“There was a strong vote of confidence in the future of the northern cod and in the continuation of this important fisheries improvement project,” said Alberto Wareham, president and CEO of Icewater Seafoods. “This FIP is critical to maintaining northern cod’s position in premium global markets and to the ultimate goal of achieving MSC sustainability certification.”