Cod (Gadus morhua) in Subarea 4, divisions 6.a and 7.d, and Subdivision 20 (North Sea, West of Scotland, eastern English Channel and Skagerrak)

Please note: this advice was updated in November 2024 (ICES, 2024b)

Northern shelf cod comprises three substocks (Northwestern, Southern and Viking) which mix and are caught together. ICES advises that when the MSY approach is applied for the Southern substock and precautionary considerations to protect the Southern substock are applied for the Northwestern and Viking substocks, catches in 2025 should be no more than 19 321 tonnes, which corresponds to 12 158 tonnes from the Northwestern substock, 4 089 tonnes from the Viking substock, and 3 074 tonnes from the Southern substock.

These catches by substock should not be taken as area-specific advice.

Juveniles of northern shelf cod migrate into the northern part of the Kattegat and are caught together with the Kattegat cod.