A COMPLETE ban on cod fishing is the only way to prevent the species from dying out in the North Sea, scientists said last night.

Whither fish and chips. Another byproduct of industrialized fishing, and it’s not like they haven’t tried to police the catch.

The main problem is that although cod catches have been cut to 26,500 tonnes a year, more than twice that amount is being caught in bycatches by fishermen chasing other species such as haddock, whiting, hake and plaice. Fishermen accidentally caught about 50,000 tonnes of cod last year, and have to throw the dead fish back in the sea because it is classed as an illegal catch.

The bycatches are difficult to avoid because cod are bigger than the other fish and no method has been devised to catch the other fish without scooping up cod in the process.

Throwing the dead fish back in the water? Waste upon waste.

Chilean sea bass, cod…the list continues to grow. When will the laboratories be ready with that vat spawned meat?