Atlantic cod populations collapsed due to overfishing in the late 20th century. Their recovery raises welfare questions about bycatch, net capture methods, and the suffering caused by population-level depletion.
Atlantic cod capture by bottom trawl causes barotrauma — a serious welfare harm caused by rapid pressure change as fish are brought from depth. Gas bladders expand rapidly, causing swim bladder rupture, hemorrhaging, and compression injuries. Even cod released from trawls often die from barotrauma. Gillnet capture causes drowning. Population depletion itself represents an enormous welfare loss: billions of fish in collapsed stocks that cannot be assessed or remediated. Stock recovery is therefore a welfare intervention as much as a conservation one.