A controversial decision last December to raise quotas for cod in the North Sea has lead to mixed messages from the German government.
Defying scientific advice pointing to a moratorium, the EU Council decided to raise quotas by 30 per cent, referring to a cod recovery plan adopted earlier in the fall.
Since the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) had recommended no fishing at all, the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) decided to keep the North Sea cod on its list of threatened species consumers should avoid.
That decision is supported by the German Ministry of Environment and Ecology, while the German Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection supports the increased quotas and sees no reason for consumers not to buy it, according a report from the Intrafish news agency.
The management plan and quota increase means cod “remains safely on the menu” for consumers, Ilse Aigner, Minister of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, said recently.
Her colleague cabinet member Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel supports the WWF guides, however.
The situation is a “total mess,” said Matthias Keller, head of the German Seafood Processors’ Federation (BV Fisch), to Intrafish.