HALIFAX — An international conservation group says Canada and other nations could rebuild depleted cod stocks if they clamp down on bycatch and develop a recovery plan.

The World Wildlife Fund today issued a set of measures it wants the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization, or NAFO, to adopt at its annual meeting next week in Halifax.

The fund wants NAFO to press countries to reduce bycatch so that stocks on the Grand Banks off Newfoundland and Labrador can rebuild.

Bob Rangeley, vice-president of the Atlantic branch of WWF-Canada, says cod stocks have been increasing steadily over the last several years.

But he says they are still at near historically low levels and won't fully recover unless countries deal with cod bycatch, or fish that are usually caught unintentionally.

Rangeley says consumers and industry are demanding sustainably caught seafood, which could force fisheries management groups like NAFO to better protect the resource.