Atlantic Cod
Gadus morhua
Photo: Wilhelm Thomas Fiege · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons
Keep or release?
Where are you fishing?
Size limits, seasons and female rules are set by each state. Pick yours to get a verdict.
TIDE covers New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland rules, plus federal protections everywhere.
Verifying against GBIF…
Conservation status
IUCN Red ListAssessed globally as Vulnerable. The global category hides enormous regional variation: Barents Sea cod is abundant and well managed, while the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank stocks remain deeply depleted.
What Vulnerable means
Facing a high risk of extinction in the wild.
On your plate
Check Local Guidance
One of the most eaten fish in history, and one where the label matters more than the species. Where your cod was caught decides whether it was a sustainable choice.
Regional fishing status
Northwest Atlantic: Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank stocks are overfished and rebuilding slowly. Northeast Atlantic: Barents Sea and Icelandic stocks are considered healthy and carry MSC certification.
If you buy it
- Look for MSC-certified Barents Sea, Icelandic or Norwegian cod.
- Hook-and-line or longline caught has far less seabed impact than bottom trawling.
- Alaska pollock and Pacific cod are close substitutes from healthier stocks.
Conservation status and seafood sustainability are two different questions. A species can be Least Concern globally and still be overfished, protected or unsustainable where you are.
Habitat
Cold continental shelf waters from the surface down to about 600 m
Range
North Atlantic, from the Barents Sea and Iceland to Georges Bank
Size
Commonly up to 1 m; historic fish reached 1.8 m and 90 kg
Diet
Fish, crustaceans, squid and molluscs
Lifespan
Up to 25 years
Group
fish
The barbel under its chin works like a fingertip, feeling for prey buried in the seabed.
Canada's Northern cod fishery collapsed in 1992 and was closed, putting roughly 30,000 people out of work overnight. Three decades on, the stock has still not fully recovered.
Cod fisheries built the economies of New England, Newfoundland and much of northern Europe — the fish is on the Massachusetts state seal.
Cook this species
Ways to cook Cod
Global conservation status does not tell you whether this species is sustainable to catch in your region. Where it was caught, and how, decides that.
Try this instead
Sustainable seafood alternatives
While Atlantic Cod stocks recover, these choices carry a lighter footprint.