
Predatory seals are constraining the recovery of cod stocks in Scottish West coast waters, research suggests. Losses of cod, through fishing and natural causes, have remained high for many years and have caused long-term decline in the stock — in some years, fishing removed around 50% of the total weight of the stock. The study found that, although fishing has now halved, predation by seals has rapidly increased to compensate, eating up more than 40% of the total stock.
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