Overfishing and inept management have driven Atlantic cod to the brink. Now climate change looms. Atlantic cod still have a chance at survival, but it’s not going to be easy.
Mar 23
2020
2020
Conservation Matters Spring 2020
For centuries, Atlantic cod has been essential to New England’s identity. Yet today, you can rarely find locally caught cod in a grocery store or on a menu – because it has been fished to the brink of disaster. Here’s what it’s going to take to save New England’s founding fish.
Mar 11
2020
2020
Five Actions to Save Atlantic Cod
How do we save Atlantic cod? These five conservation and management measures could help New England’s founding fish recover from its current overfished status.
Feb 13
2020
2020
Rebuild Atlantic Cod Now
Atlantic cod is in crisis. For decades, our fishery managers have failed to take effective action to stem the problem. Now, a rapidly warming ocean is making cod’s precarious position even worse. Now, CLF is calling on the federal government to follow the law and rebuild Atlantic cod. If management doesn’t improve now, we could lose our founding fish forever.
Feb 13
2020
2020
Immediate Action Needed to Save Atlantic Cod
“Our regional managers have lost control of and abandoned the cod fishery,” said Peter Shelley, Senior Counsel at Conservation Law Foundation. “After decades of reckless decision-making, Atlantic cod populations are now in crisis. To give this iconic species a chance at survival and recovery, the federal government must take the strongest possible action today and temporarily prohibit further cod fishing.”
Dec 18
2019
2019
Overfishing of Cod Continues Unabated
Atlantic cod has been overfished for decades, but at their most recent meeting, New England’s regional fishery managers recommended new catch limits that will further harm cod’s chance of recovery. This plan, called Framework 59, ignores the law and science.
Dec 4
2019
2019
Fishery Managers Recommend Unlawful Cod Catch Limits
“Fishery managers are failing in their job to end overfishing of New England’s most recognizable fish species,” said Peter Shelley, Senior Counsel at CLF. “Cod is in crisis and the Council once again failed to make the hard decision needed to end overfishing and rebuild these stocks. The proposed limits are unlawful, and the federal government must disapprove them. Directed fishing on Atlantic cod should have been stopped years ago.”
Oct 29
2019
2019
Give Atlantic Cod a Break: The Role of Climate Change
This is part three of a three-part series on the current state of Atlantic cod in New England. Part three explores how a warming ocean is making problems caused by poor management worse. Read part one about the challenge of inaccurate data here and part two on decades of bad management here. The climate crisis…
Oct 3
2019
2019
The Ocean Has Saved Us. Now, It’s Our Turn to Save the Ocean.
The world’s oceans are in dire straits. A startling UN report confirms what we at CLF have been saying for years: Without drastic measures to halt climate-damaging emissions and protect our oceans, life in New England, and around the world, will be forever changed. If we act now, we can still protect our oceans and way of life for future generations. But we don’t have a moment to waste.
Thirty Years of Overfishing
For the past 30 years, headline after headline has documented the decline of Atlantic cod. For the entire period of time, it’s been the same story over and over again: poor management, not enough protected areas, fewer and fewer cod.