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The latest assessment of Atlantic cod stocks in the Bay of Fundy and the Scotian Shelf shows decades of struggle aren’t over.
A report published in April analyzed data from 2024-25. It found the lowest number of young fish on record and high mortality.
Irene Andrushchenko, a scientist with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and lead researcher for the assessment, said that “things aren’t looking good” for the population in these areas.
“This is not an unexpected result,” said Andrushchenko. “It’s been in what we call the critical zone since about 2008 and it seems to be staying.”
Andrushchenko added that the exact cause driving the species’ decline is unclear to scientists and could be a combination of factors like predation and water temperatures.
The assessment also shows that the species has experienced an age reduction, meaning they haven’t seen older fish in bycatch or surveys since the 1990s.
Atlantic cod is a bycatch-only fishery, meaning it is caught when fishing for other species. There is a small total allowable catch of 660 metric tonnes for cod to account for bycatch. In the 2024-25 management year, 466 metric tonnes were caught.
Katie Schleit is the fisheries director at Oceans North, an Ottawa-based marine conservation organization involved in the assessment. She said DFO’s management response has been largely positive.
However, she said recovery is difficult for populations that have collapsed, even without the pressure of a fishery. Weaker fish populations are more vulnerable, according to Schleit.
“If you think of a really sick person, if they get another illness, they’re going to be more likely to be even more sick than somebody who’s already healthy,” she said. “ And so that’s sort of more what we’re experiencing with cod.”
Schleit says the species is managed area by area, but the overall trend across populations is concerning.
“A lot of times it takes favorable environmental conditions in order to help recover these stocks,” said Schleit. “The Gulf of Saint Lawrence [and] in some areas of the Scotian Shelf are experiencing climate change at a higher rate than some other areas. So, I think those are impacting some of our fish stocks more.”
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