Clyde Cod closure 2024: report

1. Introduction

This report is being published in order to provide stakeholders with a view of the monitoring and assessment work carried out by Marine Directorate during the 2024 Clyde Cod closure.

Since 2001, a specific area in the Firth of Clyde has been closed to fishing each year between 14^th February and 30^th April, in order to protect spawning cod. The Scottish Government has responsibility for the closure which was implemented by Scottish Statutory Instrument annually until 2009, then on a biennial basis since.

The closure is aimed at maximising protections of spawning cod, but between 2002 and 2021 included exemptions for Nephrops trawlers, creelers and scallop dredgers, due to the low numbers of cod that they catch.

Despite the ongoing seasonal closure, the abundance of cod in the Clyde area has shown little sign of recovery. Therefore, in 2022 The Sea Fish (Prohibition on Fishing) (Firth of Clyde) (No. 2) Order 2022 was laid to continue the spawning closure for 2022 and 2023 without any of the previous exemptions^[1]. This approach was adopted with a view to further minimising the disturbance caused by fishing activities during the spawning season as the scientific evidence is such that all forms of fishing cause some degree of disturbance.

This approach also created consistency with management in other areas, including:

• The UK National North Sea Cod Avoidance Plan^[2], which seeks to support recovery of the North Sea cod stock and, the fishing industry to manage their quota in line with the reduced total allowable catch (TAC). It covers closure areas for all gear types (excluding pelagic),
• The Red Rocks and Longay Marine Conservation Order 2022^[3], which includes a prohibition on all forms of fishing with the exception of hand diving for king and queen scallops in order to fully protect the critically endangered flapper skate nursery areas.

In considering our approach to the closure beyond 2023, The Scottish Government ran a consultation between June and September 2022^[4] which showed support for continuation of the closure without exemptions. Following Ministerial consideration of the available options, The Sea Fish (Prohibition on Fishing) (Firth of Clyde) Order 2024 was laid in Parliament on 11^th January 2024^[5].

1.1 Closure area

The original closure area was identified over 20 years ago using the combined knowledge of active fishers and scientific surveys. From 2022, it has been revised, making the area more targeted thereby reducing the overall size of the closure by 28%. This adjustment was based on improved knowledge of sediment distribution and preferred cod spawning substrate. Cod are known to prefer to spawn on harder substrate (coarse sand, gravel) and are less likely to spawn on softer ground (sand, muddy sand, sandy mud). The closure area as it currently stands takes this into account, prohibiting fishing activity in areas where cod are most likely to spawn, and leaving muddy areas open for fishing activity.