Cod stocks in the North Sea continue to rise for the seventh year in a row and there are indications that reduced discarding, and improved fisheries management are playing a key part, according to new figures released by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES).
If the management plan for cod is followed, ICES estimates a further 45 percent increase in stock size next year.
Cod stocks have not been this size since 1996 and further improvements in management and fishing techniques could see the stock return to pre-1983 levels (150,000 metric tons) within the next few years, Hazel Curtis of UK industry authority Seafish said.
"Fishing
