About the cod

The Baltic Sea cod is part of the Atlantic Cod family (gadus morhua) and is a demersal food fish.

Atlantic Cod exists in the western Atlantic from North Carolina, USA, north to Greenland, and in the eastern Atlantic from the Bay of Biscay in the south, to the Arctic Ocean in the north, including the Baltic Sea, the North Sea and Barents Sea.

Atlantic cod can grow up to two metres in length and weigh up to 96 kilos. It can live for 25 years and sexual maturity is generally reached between the ages of 2-5 years. In the Baltic Sea the cod has adapted to low-salinity water and is smaller than the Atlantic cod. It happens It can grow up to a meter in length and weigh up to 30 kilos.

This information is taken from Wikipedia. Click here to learn more.

The Cod in the Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea cod is divided into two stocks, one smaller stock west of the island of Bornholm and one larger stock east of Bornholm. The two stocks are genetically different and the eastern stock is uniquely adapted to the brackish waters of the Baltic and can thus not be “replenished” by migration from the western stock.

The cod has an important role in the Baltic Sea ecosystem. As a top predator, it maintains a healthy sea by balancing the food chain.

Interactions in the Baltic Sea ecosystem



Very probable relationship




Interesting hypotheses




Some studies have pointed to a relationship between a diminishing cod stock and increased algae blooms.

The cod lives at depths between 10-200 metres, but in the Baltic Sea it usually stays quite deep as the level of salt is higher there. Its main pray consist of herring, sprat and capelin.

Because of the cod's dependence on water saline levels, the size of the cod stock is partly regulated by natural environmental conditions. But human influence on the Baltic Sea also affects cod reproduction and survival. Eutrophication has contributed to increased oxygen consumption at larger depths, which decrease the potential for cod eggs to survive.

Because of the number of cod has decreased in recent years, the Baltic Sea ecosystem has changed. As there are fewer cod around, the sprat stock has increased dramatically. This is in turn means that the level of animal- or zooplankton, which is the main source of food for the sprat, has decreased. As a result, the population of phytoplankton, has increased, which can lead to algae blooms. High levels of phytoplankton can in turn lead to oxygen-poor, or dead sea beds, as the algae uses a lot of oxygen when they break down.

To learn more:
The role of the cod in the Baltic Sea (Baltic Sea 2020)


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Cod Fishery
Cod is the most valuable fish in the Baltic Sea, and a large proportion of the fishermen in the region are dependent on viable cod stocks. When the cod stocks reached its historical record, during the 1980s, roughly 22 per cent of global cod catches were landed from this tiny sea! Catches today are far more modest.

Baltic cod is mainly caught by trawl (mid-water- or bottom trawl), gillnets (drift gillnet or bottom gillnets, or hook (longline). Trawls are called active gears, as they require a boat pulling them in order to be working. Gillnets and hooks are passive gears, normally taken up the day after they have been set. Fisheries with gillnet and hook is mainly conducted by smaller vessels close to their homeport and generally uses less fuel than trawlers. A trawl generally catches all fish that comes in its way, whereas gillnets are more size selective.

With the exception of Russia, cod fishery in the Baltic Sea is regulated by the European Union.

Each country's catch is restricted to an annual quota, so called Total Allowable Catch (TAC). TACs for the Baltic Sea are fixed by the Council of Ministers in a meeting in Luxembourg each October. The meeting is the final step in a long process, which starts with scientific research carried out by organisations, both on a national and international level.

All scientific data collected by these organisations is then brought together by The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). The Baltic Fisheries Assessment Working Group (WGBFAS) within ICES work with the gathered data to then formulate a formal advice to the European Commission.

The European Commission consults its own expert group, called the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) and negotiations are also initiated with non-EU countries relevant for the Baltic Sea (in this case Russia).

The Baltic Sea Regional Advisory Council (BS RAC), which was set up in 2006 to increase stakeholder participation in the decision-making process, also prepares their recommendation to the European Commission.

The European Commission then analyses the various opinions and puts forward a proposal for the following year's TACs and the conditions under which they should be caught. This proposal is presented to the Council of Ministers who then makes a final decision at the meeting in October.

The ICES advice for 2010 can be downloaded here:
COD - Western Baltic Sea stock
COD - Eastern Baltic Sea stock

The Council of Ministers will set the TACs for 2010 at the Council of Ministers meeting in Luxembourg 19-20 October, 2009.


To learn more:
About the Common Fisheries Policy
http://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/cfp_en.htm
  

http://www.ices.dk/indexfla.asp

https://stecf.jrc.ec.europa.eu/home

http://www.bsrac.org/