this might be a daft question,but here goes

[tich]

I was just looking at the photos of the 50lb cod that were caught off Norway, and it got me wondering,,, If we had a total cod ban off the UK waters for say 30 years would we be catching 50lb+ cod off Whitley Bay (or were ever) or it there some unique waters off the Norwegian coast that help to produce cod of that size, I know we occasionally hear of the odd 30/40 lber caught in "our waters" but not as many as over the Norwegian area, I guess what im saying is,, if left alone how big can a cod get, and would this also go for most fish caught off the British Isles, I know some fish are not designed to grow very large, I would hate to think what a 20lb mackerel would do to my spinning rod & reel if I caught one, but what about haddock and Pollock, Ihave seen big coalies landed over there as well, cheers lads, I might be able to sleep now, its 3.30 this has been banging around my head for about 4 hours,

[regpude]

nice thread tich.YES,cant see why not 100%.good night,happy dreams.

[alcaucin]

wasn't there a monster caught in the nets quite a few years back and displayed in a fishmongers window in the s'land area, not sure exactly but I thought it was more than 50lb much more. I can't see why we wouldn't see them more often and I am sure there are a few monsters lurking around hopefully with my name on one. I'll have to paint my name on the bottom of my boat so he knows where I am.

[Marty.E.]

Tich
You've posed a good question there

In my view we would never have the numbers or sizes of fish in our territorial waters as they do in Norway. This is because those big fish have a big appetite and as the North Sea warms the fish that the cod feed on move further North. Throughout the year the Norwegian fleet continue to catch herring, sprats and to some extend mackerel.

Only my thoughts though

[waco]

I was just looking at the photos of the 50lb cod that were caught off Norway, and it got me wondering,,, If we had a total cod ban off the UK waters for say 30 years would we be catching 50lb+ cod off Whitley Bay (or were ever) or it there some unique waters off the Norwegian coast that help to produce cod of that size, I know we occasionally hear of the odd 30/40 lber caught in "our waters" but not as many as over the Norwegian area, I guess what im saying is,, if left alone how big can a cod get, and would this also go for most fish caught off the British Isles, I know some fish are not designed to grow very large, I would hate to think what a 20lb mackerel would do to my spinning rod & reel if I caught one, but what about haddock and Pollock, Ihave seen big coalies landed over there as well, cheers lads, I might be able to sleep now, its 3.30 this has been banging around my head for about 4 hours,

i believe a 200lb + cod was caught by a russian trawler many many years ago

[The Great Wallsendo]

I've always thought of Cod as the Carp of the sea...i would see no reason why, if left alone, they wouldn't grow exponentially based on their surroundings

[tich]

just been sniffing around the internet.
a Newcastle lad landed a 76lb cod off Norway a month ago'
A German bloke landed one of 103 lbs, you can see were this is going,
there must be some super food in their waters, and they must be getting caught
in areas were there are no trawlers allowed to, or cant drop their nets, so they live in
a safe haven, also a 210lb cod caught of Massachusetts (spell check working overtime on that one) that one was caught by a trawler , cheers

[alcaucin]

they reckon there are some big cod around the Aberdeen oil rigs getting fat on waste food etc. No fishing zones around them though and probably nearer to Norway than Aberdeen. You just couldn't imagine hooking a 200lb cod, I do cartwheels if I get a double! I think they used to get big cod off the east Canadian coast years ago but the habitat was totally destroyed by trawling and overfishing(a reminder to our European cousins) There are quite a few species we don't get in numbers now that we used to get. i.e haddock, plaice, horse mackerel and of course tunny and herring. I suppose they are all linked to the natural food chain which if controlled can allow them to recover. But the north sea is just a big farmers field at the end of the day and the crops are picked at prime condition which in a cods case isn't 200lb.

[Huahin]

Cod

I was just looking at the photos of the 50lb cod that were caught off Norway, and it got me wondering,,, If we had a total cod ban off the UK waters for say 30 years would we be catching 50lb+ cod off Whitley Bay (or were ever) or it there some unique waters off the Norwegian coast that help to produce cod of that size, I know we occasionally hear of the odd 30/40 lber caught in "our waters" but not as many as over the Norwegian area, I guess what im saying is,, if left alone how big can a cod get, and would this also go for most fish caught off the British Isles, I know some fish are not designed to grow very large, I would hate to think what a 20lb mackerel would do to my spinning rod & reel if I caught one, but what about haddock and Pollock, Ihave seen big coalies landed over there as well, cheers lads, I might be able to sleep now, its 3.30 this has been banging around my head for about 4 hours,

It was only the late 1980s 1990 ish. 20 pound cod were common place two at a time when I fished with shy torque of Whitby I've been watching catch pictures not many big fish.