Scientists have renewed their recommendation that there should be no cod fishing off the South Hams coast.

The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea has called for ‘zero catch’ quotas for the

Northern shelf that covers the English Channel, the North Sea up to Norway and the west of Scotland.

Data shows that cod stocks face a severe risk of collapse because of years of overfishing, low numbers of breeding adults, poor juvenile fish recruitment and rising sea temperatures.

The latest assessment indicates that the Southern and Northwestern substocks' spawning stock biomass is below (the total weight of sexually mature fish capable of reproducing) in 2026 and is forecast to remain below Blim in 2027.

Colm Lordan, Chair of ICES Advisory Committee says: “ICES can't ignore the underlying complexity that we have evidence for.

“If we don't take account of this in management, the advice doesn't reflect the true vulnerabilities."

While scientist surged a complete zero-catch policy, government negotiations between the EU, UK and Norway previously opted for major quota cuts (such as a 44 per cent reduction rather than a full ban, drawing strong pushback from both conservation groups (who urge consumers to avoid wild-caught cod) and the fishing industry which warns a total ban would devastate mixed fishery fleets.

For 2026, the majority of all quotas negotiated by the UK were not set in line with scientific recommendations, according to an official assessment by the UK government's Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) released in April.

Hugo Tagholm, executive director of campaign group Oceana UK, said: "For yet another year, experts have issued a red alert over the severe risk of collapse of UK cod stocks.

"Scientists point to dangerously low numbers of breeding adults in the North Sea, and waters that have been robbed of young fish.

"In the English Channel, there are barely any cod at all.”