Fun with Science Club®


			Can North Sea cod survive the fisherman and the weather? Carrie Straight 05.25.01 Fisherman have pulled cod out of the North Sea for years reducing the number of adult cod available to reproduce. This means that the number of cod will decrease in years to come. Along with the pressure of fishing, the temperature of the sea is also putting pressure on North Sea cod. The number of fish varies with sea temperature. Scientists from the United Kingdom wanted to see how North Sea cod numbers varied with the temperature. After getting sea temperatures from the National Center for Atmospheric Research and cod numbers from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, they looked at the relationship between temperature and cod numbers. Temperatures in the North Sea are higher earlier in the year than in the last 30 years. These higher temperatures and heavy fishing in the North Sea could be devastating for cod. For the numbers of cod to rebound to an adequate number of breeding adults, the fishing industry will have to reduce their catches by 40-60% in the North Sea, otherwise Cod in the North Sea might not survive.


			O’Brien Carl M., Clive J. Fox, Benjamin Planque, and John Casey. 2000. Climate variability and North Sea Cod. Nature 404: 142.