We know cod of course from the kibbeling with ravigotte sauce. In England they also love it and eat it like ‘fish’ with ‘chips’. The fish naturally swims a lot in the North Sea, but has difficulty in the increasingly warmer water. According to ocean organization ICES, there are so few of the fish left that those that are left should be protected. They therefore argue for a ban on cod fishing for the whole of 2026, while 15,511 tons of cod were still allowed to be caught last year.
Warming sea
According to the researchers, the fleet appears to be smaller than expected, and they attribute this mainly to the warming sea, not to overfishing. The fishermen are not happy with the advice. They also think that a fishing ban will not help.
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Cod only plays a limited role economically for the Dutch cutter fleet. “In 2024, about 800 tons were landed, accounting for approximately 2 percent of the total landing,” says Marc Robert, fisheries researcher at Wageningen University. “For some fishermen the importance is greater: for flyshooters this is 7 percent and for Urk cutters 5 percent.” The catch limit, if adopted, could also have consequences for the annual planning of fishermen, because they will have to avoid cod.
Kibbeling deficit
According to Robert, we don’t have to worry about a kibbeling shortage. “The cod in Dutch supermarkets and fishmongers comes almost entirely from countries such as Iceland and Russia, not from Dutch ships. Kibbeling therefore remains available – although it is often made from fish species other than cod,” says the researcher.