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Hugo Tagholm, executive director of Oceana UK, said the science confirmed that North Sea cod was in “grave danger of collapse”, which he said the charity had warned about in a 2023 health-check of fish stocks.

He said: “Our warnings about multiple populations at risk were ignored, and since then we have had to watch helplessly as the UK Government sold out our seas and communities, allowing fishing pressure to build relentlessly as the largest industrial vessels squeezed out the small local boats.

“Coastal livelihoods are dependent on making the right choices now, and supporting fishers through that process.

“No-one wins if we continue to empty our seas, stock after stock will follow cod, and once collapsed these populations could take decades to recover.”

Jonny Hughes, conservation charity Blue Marine’s senior UK marine policy manager, said the scientific assessment from Ices showed that cod in the North Sea and the west of Scotland had joined populations in the Irish Sea and Celtic Sea as having collapsed.

He added: “The scientific assessments published today show that cod in the North Sea and to the west of Scotland join the populations in the Irish Sea and the Celtic Sea as having collapsed.”

He said that to receive zero catch advice a fish stock had to be in an “abysmal” state, but it was the second stock after haddock in the Celtic Sea “joining the ranks of collapsed stocks” this year.

“This is a direct result of decisions in previous years to prioritise short-term economic profit for a handful of largely wealthy fishing companies, at the expense of the environment and the long-term future of fishing communities.

“This collapse was not unforeseen – in fact, it was predictable and inevitable.