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SOS for cod

NOTWITHSTANDING the curbs imposed by the European Union (EU) on the fishing of endangered stocks in European waters, cod stocks in the North Sea am on the verge of extinction. Scientists of the Scottish Office's Marine Laboratory in Aberdeen, UK, believe that the EU's attempts to reduce the total allowable catch (TAC) for 1997 will not curb fishing. "Whatever the limits, our experience is that they always seem to take about 60 per cent of the cod in any one year. That needs to come down to a maximum of 40 per cent. At current exploitation rates, only four per cent of fish aged one will survive to the age of four, (the age at which they mature)," caution the scientists.

Data collected by the researchers also shows that reducing the number of days when fishing boats are put to sea would be more effective in reducing catches than reductions in TACS.

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