‘Cod delusion’ leaves devastated stocks on the brink

Fishing vessels on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland are this week destroying the best hope for years that the region’s cod fishery, once the world’s most abundant, might yet recover.

And at a meeting in Vigo, Spain, governments have rejected a simple measure that might have given the cod a fighting chance.

Cod fishing on the banks has been banned since 1992, after overfishing destroyed the stocks. Despite this, the cod have shown no signs of recovery. This was initially blamed on subtle, permanent changes to the ecosystem.

But in recent years another culprit has emerged