Cod were not only eaten, they were so plentiful that they were used for fertilizer...so what could possibly have happened to all those cod?
by Tom Vassallo
The sight of a crispy brown batter dipped cod fillet and a steaming serving of crunchy steak fries is enough to get any seafood lover's saliva flowing. Cod is a true delight...large white flakes of delicate flesh mixed with the scent of horseradish and the delight of freshly made tartar sauce are a wondrous culinary delight. However, some memories of cod are no real delight if you can recall the awful taste of cod liver oil taken in the morning for its supposed medicinal effects. I have fortunately had the pleasure of partaking in the wonderful feasts and unpleasant oil as well. But lately I've been wondering...just where have the New Jersey codfish gone?
I recall as a youngster that the falling temperatures of late fall would signal not only the coming of winter, but that was the time when the local party boats would switch to cod fishing and there was excitement about the cod off the Jersey shore when winter fishing was in full swing. But alas, those were the days of low gas prices, plentiful boats and unlimited catches. The cod fishing back in the 1970's seemed infinite and we all enjoyed its low cost and fine eating. Oh...and the size of the fish...they were huge!
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| Codfish were plentiful until the numbers started dropping in the late 1970's. As the numbers dropped, so did the size of the fish. |
Fast forward to the 1990's, and the story begins to change...dramatically. It was at that time that it had become horribly obvious that there were indeed limits to the cod population and the world oil reserves. Overfishing and fuel costs had hit the entire fishing industry hard. The Canadians finally put a moratorium on cod fishing, but there were still some fisheries in America who refused to admit the problems with the cod. By the mid 2000's, however, overfishing had decimated the cod population to near extinction. Still, the New England Fisheries Council was hard pressed to halt the harvest of cod...too many lives and livelihoods depended on them. Then just last month, the United States government stepped in and put a six month moratorium on the Atlantic Cod.
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| The days of giant cod like this beautiful fish are becoming simply memories. Commercial fishing in New England and Canada have caused the cod to virtually disappear. |
As far back as the mid-seventeenth century, the vikings ventured to the area off of the Canadian and North American coast to catch codfish. Early American settlers wrote back to Europe with tales of codfish schools so thick you could walk across them. Cod were not only eaten, they were so plentiful that they were used for fertilizer. So what could possibly have happened to all those cod? There are two main explanations offered to that question. First and foremost, overfishing was to blame. We aren't really talking party boats and recreational fishing here. We are talking technology and commercial overfishing. Once electronic fish finders and GPS units became widely available to the industry, it was possible for even those who had no commercial fishing lineage to obtain a boat, get the equipment and start hauling in fish...lots of fish. The other problem with this overfishing is that the amount of fish wasn't the only issue...it was the bycatch which included other prey and predatory species that would be caught along with the cod and unwittingly killed.
Problem number two is something some people say is simply a myth supported by scientists. That's right. Global warming. Well, right here in New Jersey we have noticed a proliferation of southern species over the last two decades in our waters. Marine biologists I spoke to have told me there are even more southern fish appearing in their netting surveys as well. It's simple...cod are COLD WATER fish. The colder...the better. They need cold water to spawn and it is a proven fact that the water in the Northern Atlantic is simply getting warmer. The cold North Atlantic is cod water. That's why the cod used to "head south" to New Jersey's winter water to "warm up" when it got too cold up off of the New England coast! That's the reason we always had our winter cod fishing season. Sure we still get a few cod here off the Jersey coast in the dead of winter, but they are few and definitely farther between.
The North Atlantic cod population is now estimated at somewhere between 12-14% of what is necessary to rebuild the population to a sustainable level. Kudos to the feds for stepping in and placing a moratorium on the New England fleet. I know it's easy for me to say that. I don't count on the cod to feed my family or pay my bills. But I pray that severe cutbacks and moratoriums end up a benefit for the commercial fishery in New England and a recreational rebirth of the New Jersey fishery. I hope that by biting the bullet today, the New England fisherman will once again enjoy a rebirth of the cod fishing industry and it will boom once again.
