Rumours about the UK running out of cod are unfounded, according to the seafood industry, which has insisted cod stocks are in good health.

Several national newspapers ran stories earlier in the week suggesting that cod stocks were so low that the UK would be unable to source the fish within a decade.

They cited figures from a European Commission document published on 7 June, which they said suggested about 50% of Atlantic and 80% of Mediterranean fish stocks had been exhausted by overfishing.

However, far from warning of impending doom, the EC document stated that overfishing in the Atlantic had fallen dramatically. “The proportion of overfished stocks in the Atlantic and nearby seas fell from 32 out of 34 stocks in 2004 to 18 out of 38 stocks in 2011, i.e. from 94% to 47%,” it said.

For Mediterranean stocks, the document did say that 80% of the resources studied were overfished and some were at low levels, but it also warned stock assessments had started only recently and “it is not possible to use these data to look at the development of the state of the stocks over time”.

In addition,the ocean that a lot of cod sold in the UK comes from -the Barents Sea around Norway - is in excellent health. In fact, the International Council for Exploration of the Sea last week recommended fishermen be allowed to increase their quota of North East Arctic Cod by 25%, taking the total quota to 940,000 tonnes.

“It is intensely frustrating when a popular newspaper leads with a very, very misleading headline,” said John Rutherford, chairman of the Frozen at Sea Fillets Association, whose members catch fish in the North East Atlantic and supply UK chippies.

Iglo Group, which owns Birds Eye, said good management practices would ensure cod remains on the menu across the EU.

“The responsible management practices that have resulted in historically high record volumes of cod coming into the UK from Iceland, Norway and Russia, of which much is certified, can be replicated in EU waters,” said Peter Hajipieris, chief technical, sustainability and external affairs officer.

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