Parts of the North Sea are being closed to cod-fishermen from today in a desperate attempt to revive dangerously depleted stocks.
Cod fishing is to be banned until April 30th - during the crucial spawning period - under emergency EU powers announced earlier this month by the European Commission.
The temporary ban will affect more than 40,000 square miles of water. The closed-off areas are concentrated in the north, east and south of the North Sea.
Policing such extreme conservation moves will be a problem. The Commission is stepping up monitoring measures, including the introduction of special fishing permits, new obligations on fishermen to report their catches and the placing of observers part-time on vessels using the controlled zones for non-cod fishing.
Inshore fishermen will not be affected as the banned areas avoid coastal waters. And as cod live at the sea bottom pelagic fisheries (directed at mid-water species) will be allowed to continue during the cod period.
Scientists have warned North Sea cod stocks are now so low that there is a serious danger of the industry's total collapse.
PA