The Department of Fisheries and Oceans says there has been an increase in the Northern Cod stock after several years of stability in the numbers.

DFO released its annual assessment of the stock yesterday.

Research scientist Dr. Paul Regular says the stock is assessed as being in the healthy zone, noting that they now have an upper stock reference for the species which helped them make that determination.

The stock is expected to continue growing over the next three years under current catch levels thanks to environmental conditions.

Regular says when they did the stock assessment last year, they expected numbers to stay roughly the same, and that there was a higher probability of decline due to more fishing.

He says the increase was not anticipated, but neither were increases reported in the latest capelin assessment.

Regular explains that higher capelin numbers do contribute to higher numbers for other fish too, such as cod.

Meanwhile, the FFAW says it is please with the latest assessment from DFO, with president Dwan Street stating that harvesters have been “reporting strong signs of rebuilding for years, and it is important that the science reflects what is being seen on the water.”