Restoration and management of cod in the Skagerrak/Kattegat (CodS) (38969)

The project had two main aims:
- To develop plans for ecosystem based and sustainable management of coastal stocks of cod in Skagerrak/Kattegat.
- To develop necessary scientific knowledge needed for a first pilot restoration of a locally extinct stock of cod.

The work in the project was highly multi-disciplinary and included aspects of law, policies and institutional rules, socio economy, genetics, ecology, physiology and behavioural ecology. The work was divided into 10 work packages and one work package responsible for coordination.

The different WPs addressed the following tasks:
- WP1: Genetic mapping of potential donor stocks of cod.
- WP2: Genetic characterization of extinct cod stocks in fjord areas of Skagerrak.
- WP3: Ecological inventory of fjords with and without cod, to establish the effect of local cod stocks on fjord ecosystems.
- WP4: Risk assessment in particular focusing on the risk of contamination of released cod larvae or juveniles that migrate into nearby stocks.
- WP5: Legal and institutional aspects of restoring fjord stocks of fish.
- WP6: Societal costs and values of cod restoration.
- WP7: Establishing production of cod juveniles, for tests of feeding and migration behaviours in relation to individual genotype.
- WP8: Developing a step-by-step plan for starting a pilot restoration, including applications for necessary permissions.
- WP9: Development of suggestions of management plans for existing or restored fjord stocks of cod.
- WP10: Synthesis and final report to stakeholders. (Scientific reports will be submitted for publication in scientific journals, in addition).
- WP11: Coordination, internal and external communication including project meetings.

The main results of the project were:
- Cod was present in very small stocks in fjords in eastern Skagerrak, as found from trawling of fish eggs during spawning period. The eggs found were identified as cod from genetic markers. Thus restoration should wait and instead all possible protection should be applied so that these tiny small groups of local spawning cod can increase in numbers over the years to come.
- Several of the fjords in Skagerrak/Kattegat have cod that genetically is a mix of North Sea cod and Kattegat cod. Some fjords along the Norwegian coast have genetically unique elements in the cod stocks.
- The Kattegat spawning stock should be a very important source for eastern Skagerrak cod populations, according to our oceanographic models.

The project was coordinated by Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Gothenburg and funded by EU, InterReg (regional collaboration).

Research area: Population Genetics
Research area: Marine Living Resources
Research area: Fisheries Management