With northern cod now firmly in the healthy zone, and having recently entered assessment for Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification, some perspectives are rooted in outdated information.
The reality today is that northern cod is a healthy and sustainably managed resource, supported by one of the world’s most internationally recognized scientific peer-review processes.
There are false claims being made that the status of northern cod changed in recent years because the benchmark for a healthy stock was arbitrarily lowered – these claims are not supported by the science or by established assessment processes.
In 2023, the northern cod assessment framework underwent a rigorous week-long peer review process. Updates to the assessment model from that review, including the addition of more than 30 years of historic data, improved the scientific understanding of northern cod and its current stock status.
Northern cod continues to be assessed by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) on an annual basis. Today, the latest science assessment shows that northern cod is in the healthy zone, with an estimated spawning stock biomass (SSB – weight of mature cod) of 540,000 tonnes – currently the largest SSB of any cod stock in the world.
Ecosystem conditions have improved for northern cod, and scientific projections show continued growth under increased fishery removals. Capelin biomass – a major food source for cod – has reached the highest level seen in a decade, with a positive...
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