Codswallop!

Charles Clover of the Blue Marine Foundation opines we need to conserve cod stocks around the UK. He also makes, however, several highly contentious statements about where the 'attack' on our 'national dish' of 'cod 'n chips' is coming from (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/nov/04/brexit-overfishing-uk-waters). Certainly Clover's most contentious claim is that 'our' cod populations "...belong to King Charles on behalf of the people.." Is Clover after a knighthood? The idea that a wild species 'belongs to' anyone individual, is bizzare (this could have been intentional, simply to get us to read the article?). Clover claims that declining cod stocks in UK waters are the result of '40 years of mismanagement' (presumably by the EU). He opines that 'Brexit creates an opportunity to do our seas and our fishers a favour by managing fish stocks for recovery.' Most of the 'attacks' on cod stocks he describes appear, however, to involve the actions of UK fishers and government bodies. Scottish fishers are said to destroy juvenile cod stocks as 'bycatch', whilst trawling for more lucrative langoustines. The UK government was pressured by fishers to increase the size of cod catches in the North Sea, to a level incompatible with fish stock recovery. Meaningful conservation of cod stocks seems more likely to be achieved by multinational agreements. Cod don't carry passports and governments appear to find it easier to stand up to fishers, when acting as a collective.