Cod crisis? What cod crisis?

[mr motorola]

Hi carl ,if i remember right about this time last year 2 of your party came off with me on 10 hr trip we were fishing approx 16 miles from whitby harbour and by 11am they just stopped fishing and started filliting said they had caught enough .

We were roughly in the same area last week and the fishing in now very similar as it this time last year it was nearly all quality fish very little small codling the trawlers are mopping them up on the 3 mile by the load feeding on the spawn as we speak but the fish out aback of the 12 mile are very well proporsioned and very well fed the fillits of these fish are thick in nature very nice to see.

hi paul , thats great news maybe it is a sign of things picking up? fingers crossed !! all the best.

[JB]

Hi John,

 

I do hope that you are right.

 

ICES are still saying that there was no sign of recovery of cod stocks in 2005.

 

And any sign of recovery will frustrate the arguments of the 'sod the cod' lobby, showing that there is some point to the restrictions being imposed.

It's also interesting that we are not talking about a single population of cod in the North Sea.

 

From North Sea Cod Recovery? - Joe Horwood, Carl O'Brien, and Chris Darby:

DEFRA Document:

Another DEFRA document:

 

 

 

 

So, it is difficult to draw any simplistic conclusions that will apply universally.

 

Perhaps your better fed cod are the sign of unpressured local populations that have the pick of the feed, and less competition?

 

Much will depend upon the sub-stock, geographical area and conditions, as well as different fishing practices in different areas at different times of the year.

 

It all makes cod-hunting so much more interesting though!

 

Hi Leon,

All interesting stuff. I strongly believe that if there is to be a cod recovery a major component in this recovery would an abundance of the correct food for the cod so it is heartening to see apparently correctly fed fish.

 

I think what you said at the end of your post sums it up for me. “It all makes cod-hunting so much more interesting though!” Having operated a charter business from Whitby through the very best of times, I was unable to stand still and watch things go into decline. I had to move onward, upward and outward, going much further afield in the hunt for cod.

 

JB

Edited October 3, 2006 by John and Michele

[Guest challenge]

Hi Leon,

All interesting stuff. I strongly believe that if there is to be a cod recovery a major component in this recovery would an abundance of the correct food for the cod so it is heartening to see apparently correctly fed fish.

 

I think what you said at the end of your post sums it up for me. “It all makes cod-hunting so much more interesting though!” Having operated a charter business from Whitby through the very best of times, I was unable to stand still and watch things go into decline. I had to move onward, upward and outward, going much further afield in the hunt for cod.

 

JB

Jesus, I think you and Leon should get yourselves along to parcol and get a 60 footer ordered. You know you won’t be happy till your back at it with Leon by your side.

By the way I won’t be by your side as I am starting to get signals from the course fishing fraternity.

[Leon Roskilly]

By the way I won’t be by your side as I am starting to get signals from the course fishing fraternity.

 

 

???

 

 

 

I've been known to fish freshwater!

 

 

Edited October 3, 2006 by Leon Roskilly

[Leon Roskilly]

Jesus, I think you and Leon should get yourselves along to parcol and get a 60 footer ordered. You know you won’t be happy till your back at it with Leon by your side.

 

 

Me with a recently caught Whitby Cod

 

 

 

Edited October 3, 2006 by Leon Roskilly

[big_cod]

Lets get something straight here i go hunting for cod nearly every day and there is still plenty of cod right here on the door step if you know just where to find them.

[Guest challenge]

Lets get something straight here i go hunting for cod nearly every day and there is still plenty of cod right here on the door step if you know just where to find them.

Woke up this morning and first thing I did was made my self a cup of coffee then read your thread.

Ran striate down stares opened the front door and lifted the door mat.

Guess what? Not a cod to be seen.

You will have to tell me where I am going wrong big cod. Still trip booked for tea time (hopefully weather will stay fine) and hopefully we can (dare I say it) catch a few more cod.

It’s a regular bunch who have been coming to Whitby since the seventy’s, so I am going to give them a pep talk on catch and release. It is well rehearsed (pep talk) and I have got all my props ready.

So will update on there reaction and comments on return.

Regards.

[big_cod]

Woke up this morning and first thing I did was made my self a cup of coffee then read your thread.

Ran striate down stares opened the front door and lifted the door mat.

Guess what? Not a cod to be seen.

You will have to tell me where I am going wrong big cod. Still trip booked for tea time (hopefully weather will stay fine) and hopefully we can (dare I say it) catch a few more cod.

It’s a regular bunch who have been coming to Whitby since the seventy’s, so I am going to give them a pep talk on catch and release. It is well rehearsed (pep talk) and I have got all my props ready.

So will update on there reaction and comments on return.

Regards.

 

challenge they are the worst the old school good luck but i think i know what the anser will be .

 

The weather looks like its going to turn crap fresh southerlies tommorow then it looks like strong westerlies maybe even northwest but you know how they get it wrong it could even be like a mill pond.

[Leon Roskilly]

Many fishing leaders are starting to talk about the North Sea being on the brink of a "gadoid explosion". This is not an EEFPO "anomaly", neither is it an East Coast "hot spot".

 

 

Full details at:

 

http://www.eefpo.co.uk/home

[big_cod]

Funny thing though before the herring spawn appeard here just over 3weeks ago the local trawlers were starving to death saying there was nothing alive now the sea is knee deep with fish lets see what happens when the herring spawn fisherie stops and see just what happens next it will be very interesting but lets hope they are right what they are saying but please dont hold your breath.

Edited October 5, 2006 by big_cod