EU threatens end to endangered cod fishery

THOUSANDS of jobs in the fishing industry throughout Europe are at stake because cod has been fished almost to extinction, Brussels warned yesterday.

A moratorium on cod fishing off the Irish coast could soon be in place unless drastic action is taken to protect cod numbers, EU agriculture commissioner Franz Fischler said.

Scientific experts called for a full ban on cod, whiting and haddock fishing in the North Sea, Irish Sea, west of Scotland, the Eastern Channel and Skagerrak because cod stocks are about to collapse.