The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) has warned that cod may disappear entirely from British and Celtic sea waters.
The extinction of the species in these waters is due to rising sea temperatures. Cod is a cold-water fish that does not cope well with rising temperatures, which drastically reduces the survival of its young.
Commenting on the dramatic decline in the population, Charlotte Coombes from MCS said to the Express newspaper:
“Off the southwest of the UK, int the Celtic Seas around Cornwall, that population is also critically low and in danger of not being able to reproduce, and it’s same off the western coast of Scotland. When populations get this small, they can’t actually find each other to breed, and once they get to that point they are at risk of crashing and potentially disappearing entirely if they can’t find a way to increase population sizes again.”
As a result, the Marine Conservation Society has sadly added the species to its “fish to avoid” in its Good Fish Guide. The guide aims to educate consumers on which are the most sustainable species to consume.
