Price of fish and chips to rise following calls for cod catching ban

They warned that any attempt to stop fishing of cod will also mean measures to cut back catches of other popular fish including haddock and plaice.

A ban on North Sea cod would not prevent supermarkets, restaurants and chip shops in Britain from getting supplies. Most cod eaten in this country already comes from fishing grounds further afield, around Iceland, Norway and the Barents Sea.

But a ban would put more pressure on stocks of cod and other fish outside the North Sea and in turn push prices in the shops upwards.

Ann Kirk of the National Federation of Fish Fryers said: "We will try to keep prices down. But this is happening at a time when gas prices are going through the roof and our members are facing steeply rising costs. We can only tell people that we will do our best and hope they stay with us."

The average portion of cod has increased in price by more than 25 per cent since 2000, which means fish and chips, once regarded as cheap food for working families, now costs between £3.20 and £3.50 for each meal.

The call for a ban on North Sea cod fishing came from European Union fishing experts. The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, which advises on fish stocks, is to add a warning that fishing of other species will also have to be cut back to protect the cod.

They will put their warning formally to a meeting of EU fisheries ministers in Brussels today.

North Sea cod fishing has been strictly limited for nearly three years, and Scottish fishermen have seen their quotas cut by 15 per cent this year. However the curbs have failed to produce any revival in stocks.

While cod catches have been limited to 26,500 tons, nearly twice as much of the fish has been scooped up by boats fishing for haddock, whiting, hake and plaice. The dead cod brought up in nets in this way has to be thrown back in the sea because EU rules make it illegal to land it.

Since cod are larger than other fish, larger nets to allow cod to escape would fail to catch the other species.

Mireille Thom of the Brussels European Commission said: "If we want to avoid all catches of cod, all these fisheries will have to be stopped. We have not discovered the fishing gear that can catch haddock or whiting but not cod. It is not for lack of trying. It is a very tough assignment."

A number of supermarkets and restaurants now make a point of not selling North Sea cod and consumers are increasingly looking for markers that show fish come from "sustainable" stocks.

Around 70 per cent of the cod sold in Britain is fished around Iceland, Norway or the Faeroes.

The high price of cod, however, is now leading commercial companies to consider farming the fish in the same way that salmon is farmed.