Cod
Encyclopedia
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
Gadus, belonging to the family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Gadidae
Gadidae
Gadidae is a family of marine fish, included in the order Gadiformes. It includes the cod, haddock, whiting, and pollock.Most species of gadid are found in temperate waters of the northern hemisphere, although there are some exceptions. They are generally medium sized fish, and are distinguished...
, and is also used in the common name for various other fishes. Cod is a popular food
Food
Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals...
with a mild flavor, low fat content and a dense, flaky white flesh
Whitefish (fisheries term)
Whitefish or white fish is a fisheries term referring to several species of demersal fish with fins, particularly cod , whiting , and haddock , but also hake , pollock , or others...
. Cod livers are processed to make cod liver oil
Cod liver oil
Cod liver oil is a nutritional supplement derived from liver of cod fish. It has high levels of the omega-3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA, and very high levels of vitamin A and vitamin D. It is widely taken to ease the symptoms of arthritis and for other health benefits...
, an important source of vitamin A
Vitamin A
Vitamin A is a vitamin that is needed by the retina of the eye in the form of a specific metabolite, the light-absorbing molecule retinal, that is necessary for both low-light and color vision...
, vitamin D
Vitamin D
Vitamin D is a group of fat-soluble secosteroids. In humans, vitamin D is unique both because it functions as a prohormone and because the body can synthesize it when sun exposure is adequate ....
, vitamin E
Vitamin E
Vitamin E is used to refer to a group of fat-soluble compounds that include both tocopherols and tocotrienols. There are many different forms of vitamin E, of which γ-tocopherol is the most common in the North American diet. γ-Tocopherol can be found in corn oil, soybean oil, margarine and dressings...
and omega-3 fatty acid
Omega-3 fatty acid
N−3 fatty acids are essential unsaturated fatty acids with a double bond starting after the third carbon atom from the end of the carbon chain....
s (EPA
Eicosapentaenoic acid
Eicosapentaenoic acid is an omega-3 fatty acid. In physiological literature, it is given the name 20:5. It also has the trivial name timnodonic acid...
and DHA
Docosahexaenoic acid
Docosahexaenoic acid is an omega-3 fatty acid that is a primary structural component of the human brain and retina. In chemical structure, DHA is a carboxylic acid with a 22-carbon chain and six cis double bonds; the first double bond is located at the third carbon from the omega end...
). The northeast Arctic cod, which is traditionally fished when approaching the coast during spawning
Spawn (biology)
Spawn refers to the eggs and sperm released or deposited, usually into water, by aquatic animals. As a verb, spawn refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm, also called spawning...
, are sometimes called skrei. Young Atlantic cod or haddock
Haddock
The haddock , also known as the offshore hake, is a marine fish distributed on both sides of the North Atlantic. Haddock is a popular food fish and is widely fished commercially....
prepared in strips for cooking is called scrod.
The Atlantic cod, which can change color at certain water depths, has two distinct color phases: gray-green and reddish brown. Its average weight is 5–12 kg (11–26.5 lb), but specimens weighing up to 100 kilograms (220.5 lb) have been recorded. Cod feed on molluscs, crab
Crab
True crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" , or where the reduced abdomen is entirely hidden under the thorax...
s, starfish
Sea star
Starfish or sea stars are echinoderms belonging to the class Asteroidea. The names "starfish" and "sea star" essentially refer to members of the class Asteroidea...
, worm
Worm
The term worm refers to an obsolete taxon used by Carolus Linnaeus and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck for all non-arthropod invertebrate animals, and stems from the Old English word wyrm. Currently it is used to describe many different distantly-related animals that typically have a long cylindrical...
s, squid
Squid
Squid are cephalopods of the order Teuthida, which comprises around 300 species. Like all other cephalopods, squid have a distinct head, bilateral symmetry, a mantle, and arms. Squid, like cuttlefish, have eight arms arranged in pairs and two, usually longer, tentacles...
, and small fish. Some migrate to warm water in winter to spawn. A large female lays up to five million eggs in mid ocean, a very small number of which survive. Pacific or saltwater cod are also found around the coast of British Columbia, Canada and the northwestern US coastal areas. These fish are three times the size of their eastern counterparts and are darker in color.
Cod meat is moist and flaky when cooked and is white in color. In the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Atlantic cod
Atlantic cod
The Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua, is a well-known demersal food fish belonging to the family Gadidae. It is also commercially known as cod, codling or haberdine....
is one of the most common ingredients in fish and chips
Fish and chips
Fish and chips is a popular take-away food in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada...
, along with haddock
Haddock
The haddock , also known as the offshore hake, is a marine fish distributed on both sides of the North Atlantic. Haddock is a popular food fish and is widely fished commercially....
and plaice
Plaice
Plaice is the common name of four species of flatfishes.Plaice or PLAICE may also refer to:* USS Plaice , a Balao-class submarine* PLAICE, an open source hardware FLASH programmer, memory emulator, and logic analyzer...
. It is also frequently consumed in Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
and Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
.
Cod are currently at risk from overfishing in the UK, Canada and most other Atlantic countries.
Taxonomy
At various times in the past, taxonomists incorrectly included many speciesSpecies
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
in Gadus. The great majority of these are now either classified in other genera, or have been recognized as simply forms of one of three species. Modern taxonomy, therefore, recognizes only three species in this genus:
- Gadus macrocephalus - Pacific codPacific CodThe Pacific cod, Gadus macrocephalus, is an important commercial food species. It is also known as gray cod, gray goo, gray wolf, grayest or grayfish. It has three separate dorsal fins, and the catfish-like whiskers on its lower jaw. In appearance, it is similar to the Atlantic Cod...
- Gadus morhua - Atlantic codAtlantic codThe Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua, is a well-known demersal food fish belonging to the family Gadidae. It is also commercially known as cod, codling or haberdine....
- Gadus ogac - Greenland codGreenland codThe Greenland cod, Gadus ogac, known variously as rock cod, ogac and uvac is a commercially harvested food fish.In colour the Greenland cod is generally sombre, ranging from tan to brown to silvery. Its appearance is similar to that of other cod species; generally heavy-bodied, elongate, usually...
All these species have a profusion of common name
Common name
A common name of a taxon or organism is a name in general use within a community; it is often contrasted with the scientific name for the same organism...
s, most of them including the word "cod". Many common names have been used of more than one species, in different places or at different times.
Related species
Cod forms part of the common nameCommon name
A common name of a taxon or organism is a name in general use within a community; it is often contrasted with the scientific name for the same organism...
of many other fish no longer classified in the genus Gadus. Many are members of the family Gadidae
Gadidae
Gadidae is a family of marine fish, included in the order Gadiformes. It includes the cod, haddock, whiting, and pollock.Most species of gadid are found in temperate waters of the northern hemisphere, although there are some exceptions. They are generally medium sized fish, and are distinguished...
; others are members of three related families within the order Gadiformes
Gadiformes
Gadiformes is an order of ray-finned fish, also called the Anacanthini, that includes the cod and its allies. Many major food fish are in this order. They are found in marine waters throughout the world, and there are also a small number of freshwater species.Common characteristics include the...
whose names include the word "cod": the morid cods, Moridae
Moridae
Moridae is a family of cod-like fishes, known as codlings, hakelings, and moras.Morids are marine fishes found throughout the world, and may be found at depths of up to , although most prefer shallower waters...
(100 or so species); the eel cods, Muraenolepididae
Muraenolepididae
Muraenolepididae is a family of cod-like fish, known as Eel cods.Muraenolepididae are marine fish found in the Southern Ocean-Species:There are 8 species:* Muraenolepis andriashevi...
(four species); and the Eucla cod
Eucla cod
The Eucla cod, Euclichthys polynemus, is a deepwater marine fish belonging to the cod order . It is the only species currently classified in the family Euclichthyidae. It is named after the town of Eucla, Western Australia, in whose coastal waters it is found.The Eucla cod has a long and tapering...
, Euclichthyidae (one species). The tadpole cod family (Ranicipitidae) has now been placed in Gadidae.
Gadiformes
Gadiformes is an order of ray-finned fish, also called the Anacanthini, that includes the cod and its allies. Many major food fish are in this order. They are found in marine waters throughout the world, and there are also a small number of freshwater species.Common characteristics include the...
include:
- Arctic codArctic codThe Arctic cod is an Arctic deepwater fish related to the true cod .-Names:The fish has several common names, including polar cod and Greenland cod...
Arctogadus glacialis - East Siberian codEast Siberian codThe East Siberian cod, Arctogadus borisovi, also known as the toothed cod, is an Arctic fish closely similar to the Arctic cod Arctogadus glacialis and also related to true cods . It has been differentiated in appearance from the Arctic cod by having pronounced chin barbel. Their sides and back are...
Arctogadus borisovi - Eucla codEucla codThe Eucla cod, Euclichthys polynemus, is a deepwater marine fish belonging to the cod order . It is the only species currently classified in the family Euclichthyidae. It is named after the town of Eucla, Western Australia, in whose coastal waters it is found.The Eucla cod has a long and tapering...
Euclichthys polynemus - LingCommon LingThe common ling or simply the ling, Molva molva, is a large member of the cod family. An ocean fish whose habitat is in the Atlantic region and can be found around Iceland, Faroe Islands, British Isles, the Norse coast and occasionally around Newfoundland, the ling has a long slender body that can...
Molva molva - Pelagic codPelagic codThe Pelagic cod is a small deepwater fish found in the Southern Ocean. It is one of only two species currently classified in the family Melanonidae, the other being the Arrowtail, Melanonus zugmayeri....
Melanonus gracilis - Polar codPolar codThe polar cod , also known as the Arctic cod, is a fish of the cod family Gadidae, related to the true cod . Note that there is another fish with the common name Arctic cod, Arctogadus glacialis....
Boreogadus saida - Poor codPoor codThe poor cod, Trisopterus minutus, is a temperate marine fish belonging to the cod family . It is red brown in color and has a pronounced chin barbel. It may grow up to a length of 40cm. It is usually found in small shoals at depths between 10 and 300 meters on muddy or sandy bottoms...
Trisopterus minutus - Rock codRock codThe rock cod is a temperate fish found off the coasts of southeastern Australia, Tasmania, the Great Australian Bight and northwards up the south western Australia coasts. They are also found around the coasts of New Zealand. They belong to the family Moridae and are not related to the true cods...
Lotella rhacina - Saffron codSaffron codThe saffron cod , is a commercially harvested fish closely related to true cods . It is dark grey-green to brown, with spots on its sides and pale towards the belly. It may grow to 60 cm and weigh up to 1.3 kg....
Eleginus gracilis - Small-headed codSmall-headed codThe small-headed cod or long-finned cod, Lepidion microcephalus, is a deepwater fish belonging to the morid cod family , and related to the true cods . It is found in the Tasman Sea, including Bass Straits and is commercially harvested by both Australia and New Zealand...
Lepidion microcephalus - Tadpole codTadpole codThe Tadpole cod is a deepwater fish found in the oceanic islands off New Zealand and in the mid South Atlantic at depths ranging from 1200 - 1600 m....
Guttigadus globosus
Some fish have common names derived from "cod", such as codling, codlet
Codlet
Codlets are a family, Bregmacerotidae, of cod-like fishes, containing the single genus Bregmaceros.They are found in tropical and subtropical waters throughout the world....
or tomcod. ("Codling" is also used as a name for a young cod.)
Unrelated species
Some fish commonly known as cod are unrelated to Gadus. Part of this name confusion is market-driven. Severely shrunken Atlantic cod stocks have led to the marketing of cod replacements using namesCulinary name
Culinary names, menu names, or kitchen names are names of foods used in the preparation or selling of food, as opposed to their names in agriculture or in scientific nomenclature. The menu name may even be different from the kitchen name...
of the form "x cod", according to culinary rather than phyletic similarity. The common names for the following species have become well established; note that all inhabit the Southern Hemisphere
Southern Hemisphere
The Southern Hemisphere is the part of Earth that lies south of the equator. The word hemisphere literally means 'half ball' or "half sphere"...
. The cods have the scientific name,'Gadus morhua'. Gadus morhua was named by Linnaeus in 1758. However, G. morhua callarias, a low salinity, non-migratory race restricted to parts of the Baltic, was originally described as Gadus callarias by Linnaeus.
Perciformes
Fish of the orderOrder (biology)
In scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...
Perciformes
Perciformes
The Perciformes, also called the Percomorphi or Acanthopteri, is one of the largest orders of vertebrates, containing about 40% of all bony fish. Perciformes means perch-like. They belong to the class of ray-finned fish and comprise over 7,000 species found in almost all aquatic environments...
that are commonly called "cod" include:
- Blue codBlue codBlue cod, Parapercis colias, is a temperate marine fish of the family Pinguipedidae. It is also known variously as Boston blue cod, New Zealand cod, sand perch or its Māori names rawaru and pakirikiri....
Parapercis colias - Eastern freshwater codEastern freshwater codEastern freshwater cod, Maccullochella ikei, also known as eastern cod, are a large and striking predatory freshwater fish of the Maccullochella genus and the Percichthyidae family, that occur in the coastal Clarence River system of north-eastern New South Wales...
Maccullochella ikei - Mary River codMary River codMary River cod are a Maccullochella cod found in the coastal Mary River system of southern Queensland, Australia...
Maccullochella peelii mariensis - Murray codMurray CodThe Murray cod is a large Australian predatory freshwater fish of the Maccullochella genus and the Percichthyidae family. Although the species is a called cod in the vernacular, it is not related to the northern hemisphere marine cod species...
Maccullochella peelii peelii - Potato codPotato codThe Potato Cod, Epinephelus tukula is an endangered, native fish in Australia and also many other Asian countries, including Malaysia. It can reach a length of two meters and can weigh as much as 110 kilograms ....
Epinephelus tukula - Sleepy codSleepy codThe sleepy cod, Oxyeleotris lineolatus, is a medium-sized freshwater fish, native to tropical regions of northern Australia.Sleepy cod generally weigh up to 3 kg. They are very common in waterways across northern Australia. They are plain brown coloured fishes. They are sedentary in nature...
Oxyeleotris lineolatus - Trout codTrout CodThe trout cod or bluenose cod, Maccullochella macquariensis, is a large predatory freshwater fish of the Maccullochella genus and the Percichthyidae family which was originally found in the south-east corner of the Murray-Darling river system in Australia...
Maccullochella macquariensis - The cod icefish family, NototheniidaeNototheniidaeThe cod icefishes or nothothens are the family Nototheniidae of acanthopterygian fishes, containing about 50 species in 13 genera. They are traditionally placed in the perciform assemblage together with their relatives, but like every lineage in the "Perciformes" their actual relationships are not...
, including:- Antarctic codAntarctic codThe Antarctic cod, or Antarctic toothfish, of the fish family Nototheniidae, is famous for producing antifreeze glycoprotein that allows it to survive in the ice-laden waters of the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica...
Dissostichus mawsoni - Black codBlack codThe black cod or smallscaled cod, Notothenia microlepidota, is a marine cod icefish in the genus Notothenia with distribution ranging from southern New Zealand to sub-Antarctic seas, although they have also been fished off the Great Australian Bight, Chile, and round the Falkland Islands, on rocky...
Notothenia microlepidota - Maori codMaori codParanotothenia magellanica, the Maori cod, is also known as Magellanic rockcod, blue notothenia or orange throat notothen. "Maori chief" and "black cod", sometimes used for this species, usually refer to fishes from the related genus Notothenia. It is a cod icefish in the family Nototheniidae...
Paranotothenia magellanica
- Antarctic cod
Rock cod, reef cod, and coral cod
Almost all coral cod, reef cod or rock codRock cod
The rock cod is a temperate fish found off the coasts of southeastern Australia, Tasmania, the Great Australian Bight and northwards up the south western Australia coasts. They are also found around the coasts of New Zealand. They belong to the family Moridae and are not related to the true cods...
are also in order Perciformes
Perciformes
The Perciformes, also called the Percomorphi or Acanthopteri, is one of the largest orders of vertebrates, containing about 40% of all bony fish. Perciformes means perch-like. They belong to the class of ray-finned fish and comprise over 7,000 species found in almost all aquatic environments...
. Most are better known as grouper
Grouper
Groupers are fish of any of a number of genera in the subfamily Epinephelinae of the family Serranidae, in the order Perciformes.Not all serranids are called groupers; the family also includes the sea basses. The common name grouper is usually given to fish in one of two large genera: Epinephelus...
s, and belong to the family Serranidae
Serranidae
Serranidae is a large family of fishes, belonging to the order Perciformes. The family contains about 450 species of serranids in 64 genera, including the sea basses and the groupers...
. Others belong to the Nototheniidiae. Two exceptions are the Australasia
Australasia
Australasia is a region of Oceania comprising Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes...
n red rock cod, which belongs to a different order (see below), and the fish known simply as the rock cod and as soft cod in New Zealand, Lotella rhacina, which as noted above actually is related to the true cod (it is a morid cod).
Scorpaeniformes
From the order ScorpaeniformesScorpaeniformes
Scorpaeniformes is an order of ray-finned fish, but it has also been called the Scleroparei.They are known as "mail-cheeked" fishes due to their distinguishing characteristic, the suborbital stay: a backwards extension of the third circumorbital bone across the cheek to the preoperculum, to which...
:
- Ling cod Ophiodon elongatus
- Red rock cod Scorpaena papillosa
Ophidiiformes
The tadpole cod family, Ranicipitidae, and the Eucla codEucla cod
The Eucla cod, Euclichthys polynemus, is a deepwater marine fish belonging to the cod order . It is the only species currently classified in the family Euclichthyidae. It is named after the town of Eucla, Western Australia, in whose coastal waters it is found.The Eucla cod has a long and tapering...
family, Euclichthyidae, were formerly classified in the order Ophidiiformes
Ophidiiformes
Ophidiiformes is an order of ray-finned fish that includes the cusk eels , pearlfishes , brotulas , and others....
, but are now grouped with the Gadiformes
Gadiformes
Gadiformes is an order of ray-finned fish, also called the Anacanthini, that includes the cod and its allies. Many major food fish are in this order. They are found in marine waters throughout the world, and there are also a small number of freshwater species.Common characteristics include the...
.
Marketed as
Some fish that do not have "cod" in their names are sometimes sold as cod. Haddock and whiting belong in the same family, the Gadidae, as cod.- HaddockHaddockThe haddock , also known as the offshore hake, is a marine fish distributed on both sides of the North Atlantic. Haddock is a popular food fish and is widely fished commercially....
Melanogrammus aeglefinus - WhitingMerlangius merlangusMerlangius merlangus, commonly known as whiting is an important food fish in the eastern North Atlantic, northern Mediterranean, western Baltic, and Black Sea...
Merlangius merlangus
Identification
Cod have three rounded dorsalDorsal fin
A dorsal fin is a fin located on the backs of various unrelated marine and freshwater vertebrates, including most fishes, marine mammals , and the ichthyosaurs...
and two anal fins. The pelvic fins are small, with the first ray extended, and are set under the gill
Gill
A gill is a respiratory organ found in many aquatic organisms that extracts dissolved oxygen from water, afterward excreting carbon dioxide. The gills of some species such as hermit crabs have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are kept moist...
cover (i.e. the throat region), in front of the pectoral fins. The upper jaw extends over the lower jaw, which has a well-developed chin barbel
Beard
A beard is the collection of hair that grows on the chin, cheeks and neck of human beings. Usually, only pubescent or adult males are able to grow beards. However, women with hirsutism may develop a beard...
. The eyes are medium sized, approximately the same as the length of the chin barbel. Cod have a distinct white lateral line
Lateral line
The lateral line is a sense organ in aquatic organisms , used to detect movement and vibration in the surrounding water. Lateral lines are usually visible as faint lines running lengthwise down each side, from the vicinity of the gill covers to the base of the tail...
running from the gill slit above the pectoral fin, to the base of the caudal or tail fin. The back tends to be a greenish to sandy brown, and shows extensive mottling, especially towards the lighter sides and white belly. Dark brown coloration of the back and sides is not uncommon, especially for individuals that have resided in rocky inshore regions.
Breeding
Cod divide into several stocks, including the Arcto-NorwegianNorway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
, Faroe
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland. The Faroe Islands are a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, along with Denmark proper and Greenland...
, Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
, East Greenland, West Greenland, Newfoundland, and Labrador
Labrador
Labrador is the distinct, northerly region of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It comprises the mainland portion of the province, separated from the island of Newfoundland by the Strait of Belle Isle...
stocks. There seems to be little interchange between the stocks, although migrations to their individual breeding grounds may involve distances of 200 miles (321.9 km)or more.
Spawning occurs between January and April (March and April are the peak months), at a depth of 200 metres (656.2 ft) in specific spawning grounds at water temperatures between 4 and 6 °C (39.2 and 42.8 F). Around the UK, the major spawning grounds are in the middle to southern North Sea, the start of the Bristol Channel
Bristol Channel
The Bristol Channel is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England. It extends from the lower estuary of the River Severn to the North Atlantic Ocean...
(north of Newquay
Newquay
Newquay is a town, civil parish, seaside resort and fishing port in Cornwall, England. It is situated on the North Atlantic coast of Cornwall approximately west of Bodmin and north of Truro....
), the Irish Channel (both east and west of the Isle of Man
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
), around Stornoway
Stornoway
Stornoway is a burgh on the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.The town's population is around 9,000, making it the largest settlement in the Western Isles and the third largest town in the Scottish Highlands after Inverness and Fort William...
, and east of Helmsdale
Helmsdale
Helmsdale is a village on the east coast of Sutherland, in the Highland council area of Scotland. The modern village was planned in 1814 to resettle communities that had been removed from the surrounding straths as part of the Highland Clearances....
.
Prespawning courtship involves fin displays and male grunting, which leads to pairing. The male inverts himself beneath the female, and the pair swim in circles while spawning. The eggs are planktonic and hatch between eight and 23 days, with larva reaching 4 millimetre (0.15748031496063 in) in length. This planktonic phase lasts some ten weeks, enabling the young cod to increase its body weight by 40-fold, and growing to about 2 centimetre (0.78740157480315 in). The young cod then move to the seabed and change their diet to small benthic crustaceans, such as isopods and small crabs. They increase in size to 8 centimetres (3.1 in) in the first six months, 14–18 cm (5.5–7.1 in) by the end of their first year, and to 25–35 cm (9.8–13.8 in) by the end of the second. Growth tends to be less at higher latitudes. Cod reach maturity at about 50 centimetres (19.7 in) at about 3 to 4 years of age.
Biome
Cod occupy varied habitat, favoring rough ground, especially inshore, and are demersal in depths between 20 and 200 ft (6.1 and 61 ), 80 metres (262.5 ft) on average, although not uncommonly to depths of 600 metres (1,968.5 ft). Off the Norwegian and New England coasts and on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, cod congregate at certain seasons in water of 30–70 m (98.4–229.7 ft) depth. Cod are gregarious and form schools, although shoaling tends to be a feature of the spawning season.Predation
Adult cod are active hunters, feeding on sand eelSand Eel
Sand eel or sandeel is the common name used for a considerable number of species of fish. Most of them are sea fish of the genera Hyperoplus , Gymnammodytes or Ammodytes...
s, whiting
Whiting
Whiting is the name of several species of fish:*Merlangius merlangus, the original species to receive the name; a common food fish of the cod family found in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean around Europe and the Mediterranean regions...
, haddock
Haddock
The haddock , also known as the offshore hake, is a marine fish distributed on both sides of the North Atlantic. Haddock is a popular food fish and is widely fished commercially....
, small cod, squid
Squid
Squid are cephalopods of the order Teuthida, which comprises around 300 species. Like all other cephalopods, squid have a distinct head, bilateral symmetry, a mantle, and arms. Squid, like cuttlefish, have eight arms arranged in pairs and two, usually longer, tentacles...
, crab
Crab
True crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" , or where the reduced abdomen is entirely hidden under the thorax...
s, lobster
Lobster
Clawed lobsters comprise a family of large marine crustaceans. Highly prized as seafood, lobsters are economically important, and are often one of the most profitable commodities in coastal areas they populate.Though several groups of crustaceans are known as lobsters, the clawed lobsters are most...
s, mussel
Mussel
The common name mussel is used for members of several families of clams or bivalvia mollusca, from saltwater and freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other edible clams, which are often more or less rounded or oval.The...
s, worm
Worm
The term worm refers to an obsolete taxon used by Carolus Linnaeus and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck for all non-arthropod invertebrate animals, and stems from the Old English word wyrm. Currently it is used to describe many different distantly-related animals that typically have a long cylindrical...
s, mackerel
Mackerel
Mackerel is a common name applied to a number of different species of fish, mostly, but not exclusively, from the family Scombridae. They may be found in all tropical and temperate seas. Most live offshore in the oceanic environment but a few, like the Spanish mackerel , enter bays and can be...
, and molluscs. Young cod avoid larger prey.
Parasites
Copepod
Copepods are a group of small crustaceans found in the sea and nearly every freshwater habitat. Some species are planktonic , some are benthic , and some continental species may live in limno-terrestrial habitats and other wet terrestrial places, such as swamps, under leaf fall in wet forests,...
, a small free-swimming crustacean larva
Larva
A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...
. The first host used by cod worm is a flatfish
Flatfish
The flatfish are an order of ray-finned fish, also called the Heterosomata, sometimes classified as a suborder of Perciformes. In many species, both eyes lie on one side of the head, one or the other migrating through and around the head during development...
or lumpsucker
Lumpsucker
Lumpsuckers or lumpfish are mostly small scorpaeniform marine fish of the family Cyclopteridae. They are found in the cold waters of the Arctic, North Atlantic, and North Pacific oceans...
, which they capture with grasping hooks at the front of their body. They penetrate the lumpsucker with a thin filament which they use to suck its blood. The nourished cod worms then mate on the lumpsucker.
The female worm, with her now fertilized eggs, then finds a cod, or a cod-like fish such as a haddock
Haddock
The haddock , also known as the offshore hake, is a marine fish distributed on both sides of the North Atlantic. Haddock is a popular food fish and is widely fished commercially....
or whiting. There the worm clings to the gill
Gill
A gill is a respiratory organ found in many aquatic organisms that extracts dissolved oxygen from water, afterward excreting carbon dioxide. The gills of some species such as hermit crabs have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are kept moist...
s while it metamorphoses into a plump, sinusoidal, wormlike body, with a coiled mass of egg strings at the rear. The front part of the worms body penetrates the body of the cod until it enters the rear bulb of the host's heart
Heart
The heart is a myogenic muscular organ found in all animals with a circulatory system , that is responsible for pumping blood throughout the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions...
. There, firmly rooted in the cod's circulatory system, the front part of the parasite develops like the branches of a tree, reaching into the main artery
Artery
Arteries are blood vessels that carry blood away from the heart. This blood is normally oxygenated, exceptions made for the pulmonary and umbilical arteries....
. In this way, the worm extracts nutrients from the cod's blood, remaining safely tucked beneath the cod's gill cover until it releases a new generation of offspring into the water.
Range
Gadus morhua cod live in the colder waters and deeper sea regions throughout the North Atlantic. The Gadus macrocephalus is found in both eastern and western regions of the PacificPacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
.
Cod trade/history
Viking
The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
period (around 800 AD). Norwegians
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
traveled with dried cod
Dried and salted cod
Dried and salted cod, often called salt cod or clipfish , is cod which has been preserved by drying after salting. Cod which has been dried without the addition of salt is called stockfish....
and soon a dried cod market developed in southern Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. This market has lasted for more than 1,000 years, enduring the Black Death
Black Death
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
, wars and other crises, and is still an important Norwegian fish trade. The Portuguese
Portuguese people
The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....
began fishing cod in the 15th century. Clipfish
Clipfish
Dried and salted cod, often called salt cod or clipfish , is cod which has been preserved by drying after salting. Cod which has been dried without the addition of salt is called stockfish....
is widely enjoyed in Portugal. The Basques played an important role in the cod trade, and allegedly found the Canadian fishing banks before Columbus
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...
' discovery of America. The North American east coast developed in part due to the vast cod stocks. Many cities in the New England area located near cod fishing grounds. The fish was so important to the history and development of Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, the state's House of Representatives hung a wood carving of a codfish, known as the Sacred Cod of Massachusetts
Sacred Cod of Massachusetts
The Sacred Cod of Massachusetts, also known simply as the Sacred Cod, is a carving of a codfish that hangs in the House of Representatives chamber of the Massachusetts State House in Boston, Massachusetts. The Sacred Cod measures long, is carved out of a solid piece of pine, and symbolizes the...
, in its chambers.
Apart from the long history, cod differ from most fish because the fishing grounds are far from population centers. The large cod fisheries along the coast of North Norway (and in particular close to the Lofoten
Lofoten
Lofoten is an archipelago and a traditional district in the county of Nordland, Norway. Though lying within the Arctic Circle, the archipelago experiences one of the world's largest elevated temperature anomalies relative to its high latitude.-Etymology:...
islands) have been developed almost uniquely for export
Export
The term export is derived from the conceptual meaning as to ship the goods and services out of the port of a country. The seller of such goods and services is referred to as an "exporter" who is based in the country of export whereas the overseas based buyer is referred to as an "importer"...
, depending on sea transport of stockfish
Stockfish
Stockfish is unsalted fish, especially cod, dried by cold air and wind on wooden racks on the foreshore, called "hjell". The drying of food is the world's oldest known preservation method, and dried fish has a storage life of several years...
over large distances. Since the introduction of salt, dried and salted cod
Dried and salted cod
Dried and salted cod, often called salt cod or clipfish , is cod which has been preserved by drying after salting. Cod which has been dried without the addition of salt is called stockfish....
(clipfish or 'klippfisk' in Norwegian) has also been exported. By the end of the 14th century, the Hanseatic League
Hanseatic League
The Hanseatic League was an economic alliance of trading cities and their merchant guilds that dominated trade along the coast of Northern Europe...
dominated trade operations and sea transport, with Bergen as the most important port.
William Pitt the Elder, criticizing the Treaty of Paris
Treaty of Paris (1763)
The Treaty of Paris, often called the Peace of Paris, or the Treaty of 1763, was signed on 10 February 1763, by the kingdoms of Great Britain, France and Spain, with Portugal in agreement. It ended the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War...
in Parliament
Parliament of Great Britain
The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and Parliament of Scotland...
, claimed cod was "British gold"; and that it was folly to restore Newfoundland fishing rights to the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
In the 17th and 18th centuries in the New World, especially in Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
and Newfoundland, cod became a major commodity, creating trade networks and cross-cultural exchanges. In 1733, Britain tried to gain control over trade between New England and the British Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
by imposing the Molasses Act, which they believed would eliminate the trade by making it unprofitable. The cod trade grew instead, because the "French were eager to work with the New Englanders in a lucrative contraband arrangement". The American settlers traded cod with the French Caribbean for rum-producing molasses. In addition to increasing trade, the New England settlers organized into a "codfish aristocracy". The colonists rose up against Britain's "tariff on an import". Angry merchants, including John Hancock and John Rowe, disguised themselves, boarded their own ships and dumped their own goods into the harbor, an event known as the Boston Tea Party
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a direct action by colonists in Boston, a town in the British colony of Massachusetts, against the British government and the monopolistic East India Company that controlled all the tea imported into the colonies...
(p. 96).
In the 20th century, Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
re-emerged as a fishing power and entered the Cod Wars. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, fishing off the European and American coasts severely depleted stocks and become a major political issue. The necessity of restricting catches to allow stocks to recover upset the fishing industry and politicians reluctant to hurt employment. The 2006 northwest Atlantic cod
Atlantic cod
The Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua, is a well-known demersal food fish belonging to the family Gadidae. It is also commercially known as cod, codling or haberdine....
quota is 23,000 tons, representing half the available stocks, while the northeast Atlantic quota is 473,000 tons.
Pacific cod is currently enjoying strong global demand. The 2006 total allowable catch (TAC) for the Gulf of Alaska
Gulf of Alaska
The Gulf of Alaska is an arm of the Pacific Ocean defined by the curve of the southern coast of Alaska, stretching from the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island in the west to the Alexander Archipelago in the east, where Glacier Bay and the Inside Passage are found.The entire shoreline of the Gulf is...
and Aleutian Islands was 260,000 tons.
Endangered species controversies in Canada and Europe
Following the early 1990s collapse of Canadian stocks, the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) banned fishing for northern (that is, cod to the north and east of the island of Newfoundland, in NAFO areas JKL) cod in 1992, which caused great economic hardship in Newfoundland and LabradorNewfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...
. The collapse was blamed on cold water, or seals, and it had even been suggested the cod were really still there; only rarely was overfishing acknowledged, or management's role in that.
The DFO partly lifted its ban in 1997, although the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea
International Council for the Exploration of the Sea
The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea is the world’s oldest intergovernmental science organization. ICES is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, where its multinational Secretariat staff of 51 provide scientific, administrative and secretarial support to the ICES community...
noted the poor recovery of Canadian cod stocks. In general, depleted populations of cod and other gadids appear to recover poorly when fishing pressure is reduced or stopped.
In 1998, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada
Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada
The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada ; French: Le Comité sur la situation des espèces en péril au Canada, is an independent committee of wildlife experts and scientists whose "raison d’être is to identify species at risk" in Canada...
(COSEWIC) listed the Atlantic cod as "vulnerable", a category subsequently rebranded as "special concern", though not as an endangered species
Endangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...
. Dr. Kim Bell, who drafted the report for COSEWIC, subsequently stated the original report in fact had advised endangered status, but political pressure by the DFO within COSEWIC had resulted in a decision of vulnerable. Attempts to alter the Report to fit that decision were resisted by the author, putting COSEWIC in the position of having a decision at odds with the Report that in form was supposed to inform that decision. Instead of providing its own reasoning for going against the recommendation (which would have been reasonable), COSEWIC simply suppressed the Report, so the 1998 Status Report on cod is not available on request as its own Procedures require all accepted Reports to be.
In 2000, WWF placed cod on the endangered species list. The WWF issued a report stating the global cod catch had suffered a 70 percent drop over the last 30 years, and if this trend continued, the world’s cod stocks would disappear in 15 years. Åsmund Bjordal, director of the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research
Norwegian Institute of Marine Research
The Norwegian Institute of Marine Research is a national consultative research institute which is owned by the Ministry of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs. The Institute performs research and provides advisory services in the fields of marine ecosystems and aquaculture.With a staff of almost 700,...
disputed the WWF's claim, noting the healthy Barents Sea
Barents Sea
The Barents Sea is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located north of Norway and Russia. Known in the Middle Ages as the Murman Sea, the sea takes its current name from the Dutch navigator Willem Barents...
cod population. Cod is among Norway's most important fishery exports and the Barents Sea
Barents Sea
The Barents Sea is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located north of Norway and Russia. Known in the Middle Ages as the Murman Sea, the sea takes its current name from the Dutch navigator Willem Barents...
is Norway's most important cod fishery.
In 2003, under the new legislative frameword of the Species At Risk Act [SARA], COSEWIC placed the Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...
fisheries cod on the endangered species list and Fisheries Minister Robert Thibault
Robert Thibault
Robert G. Thibault, PC is a Canadian politician.Thibault is a member of the Liberal Party of Canada and a former member in the Canadian House of Commons, serving three terms as the representative of West Nova from 2000 to 2008. He served as a municipal councillor in Clare, Nova Scotia from 1988 to...
announced an indefinite closure in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and off Newfoundland's northeast coast. The SARA framework however puts the final decision in the discretion of the Minister of Environment, thus in the realm of politics and removed from science or logic. The SARA framework also provides for heavy penalties that are simply unreasonable for fisheries (because capture is dependent on substantially random encounter) because due diligence is not sufficient to avoid the infractions that would generate them, except by not fishing at all. Although that problem could have been dealt with in regulations under the Act, the prospect of a Listing shutting down fisheries was used cynically to generate alarm and political opposition to a Listing, which the Minister then refused. COSEWIC's designation (under SARA) has no legal effect if the Minister refuses it. In effect, the legislation's own structure and wording had provided the means of defeating itself.
In a 2004 report, the WWF agreed the Barents Sea
Barents Sea
The Barents Sea is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located north of Norway and Russia. Known in the Middle Ages as the Murman Sea, the sea takes its current name from the Dutch navigator Willem Barents...
cod fishery appeared to be healthy, but that the situation may not last due to illegal fishing, industrial development, and high quotas.
In 2005, the WWF
World Wide Fund for Nature
The World Wide Fund for Nature is an international non-governmental organization working on issues regarding the conservation, research and restoration of the environment, formerly named the World Wildlife Fund, which remains its official name in Canada and the United States...
—Canada accused both foreign and Canadian fishing vessels of deliberate, large-scale violations of the restrictions on the Grand Banks
Grand Banks
The Grand Banks of Newfoundland are a group of underwater plateaus southeast of Newfoundland on the North American continental shelf. These areas are relatively shallow, ranging from in depth. The cold Labrador Current mixes with the warm waters of the Gulf Stream here.The mixing of these waters...
, in the form of bycatch
Bycatch
The term “bycatch” is usually used for fish caught unintentionally in a fishery while intending to catch other fish. It may however also indicate untargeted catch in other forms of animal harvesting or collecting...
. WWF also claimed poor enforcement by NAFO
Nafo
Nafo is a village in the Bourzanga Department of Bam Province in northern Burkina Faso. It has a population of 1,650.-External links:*...
, an intergovernmental organization with a mandate to provide scientific fishery advice and management in the northwestern Atlantic
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
.
According to Seafood Watch
Seafood Watch
Seafood Watch is one of the best known sustainable seafood advisory lists, and has influenced similar programs around the world. It is a program designed to raise consumer awareness about the importance of buying seafood from sustainable sources...
, cod is currently on the list of fish consumers should avoid. In a book
The End of the Line: How Overfishing Is Changing the World and What We Eat
The End of The Line: How Overfishing Is Changing the World And What We Eat is a book by journalist Charles Clover about overfishing. Clover, an environment editor of the Daily Telegraph , describes how modern fishing is destroying ocean ecosystems. He concludes that current worldwide fish...
on the subject, Charles Clover claims cod is only an example of how unsustainable fishing is destroying ocean ecosystems.
In 2010, Greenpeace International added the Atlantic cod to its seafood red list. "The Greenpeace International seafood red list is a list of fish that are commonly sold in supermarkets around the world, and which have a very high risk of being sourced from unsustainable fisheries."
In 2006, the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research considered coastal cod (but not the North East Arctic cod) endangered, but has since reverted this assessment.
Aquaculture
Farming of Atlantic cod has received a significant amount of interest due to the overall trend of increasing cod prices alongside reducing wild catches. However, progress in creating large scale farming of cod has been slow, mainly due to bottlenecks in the larval production stage, where survival and growth are often unpredictable. It has been suggested that this bottleneck may be overcome by ensuring cod larvae are fed diets with similar nutritional content as the copepods they feed on in the wild, and recent examples have shown that increasing dietary levels of minerals such as selenium and iodine can improve survival and/or biomarkers for health in aquaculture reared cod larvaeKing cod
Periodically, a cod with a deformed skull is found; the skull has a distinct top or crown, giving it the name "king cod" or kongetorsk in Norwegian. In Norway, this rare fish was earlier considered to be able to forecast the weather and was commonly used for that purpose. A woolen thread suspended the fish from the ceiling; its nose would point in a different direction depending on the coming weather. In reality, the thread rather than the fish caused the movement. The twisted thread served as a primitive hygrometerHygrometer
A hygrometer is an instrument used for measuring the moisture content in the environmental air, or humidity. Most measurement devices usually rely on measurements of some other quantity such as temperature, pressure, mass or a mechanical or electrical change in a substance as moisture is absorbed...
by reacting to the air's humidity, turning the fish as the humidity rose and fell.
Nutritional content
USDA data : Pacific cod Atlantic codLiver
Cod's soft liver can be tinned (canned) and eaten. It is an important source of vitamin AVitamin A
Vitamin A is a vitamin that is needed by the retina of the eye in the form of a specific metabolite, the light-absorbing molecule retinal, that is necessary for both low-light and color vision...
, vitamin D
Vitamin D
Vitamin D is a group of fat-soluble secosteroids. In humans, vitamin D is unique both because it functions as a prohormone and because the body can synthesize it when sun exposure is adequate ....
, vitamin E
Vitamin E
Vitamin E is used to refer to a group of fat-soluble compounds that include both tocopherols and tocotrienols. There are many different forms of vitamin E, of which γ-tocopherol is the most common in the North American diet. γ-Tocopherol can be found in corn oil, soybean oil, margarine and dressings...
and omega-3 fatty acid
Omega-3 fatty acid
N−3 fatty acids are essential unsaturated fatty acids with a double bond starting after the third carbon atom from the end of the carbon chain....
s (EPA
Eicosapentaenoic acid
Eicosapentaenoic acid is an omega-3 fatty acid. In physiological literature, it is given the name 20:5. It also has the trivial name timnodonic acid...
and DHA
Docosahexaenoic acid
Docosahexaenoic acid is an omega-3 fatty acid that is a primary structural component of the human brain and retina. In chemical structure, DHA is a carboxylic acid with a 22-carbon chain and six cis double bonds; the first double bond is located at the third carbon from the omega end...
).
Further reading
- Dean L.Y. Bavington. Managed Annihilation: An Unnatural History of the Newfoundland Cod Collapse (University of British Columbia Press; 2010) 224 pages. Links the collapse of Newfoundland and Labrador cod fishing to state management of the resource.
- Mark KurlanskyMark KurlanskyMark Kurlansky is an American journalist and writer of general interest non-fiction. He is especially known for titles on eclectic topics, such as cod or salt....
. Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World (1997) - Four Fish, by Paul Greenberg, ISBN 978-1594202568
See also
- Atlantic codAtlantic codThe Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua, is a well-known demersal food fish belonging to the family Gadidae. It is also commercially known as cod, codling or haberdine....
- BacalhauBacalhauBacalhau is the Portuguese word for codfish and—in a culinary context—dried and salted codfish. Fresh cod is referred to as bacalhau fresco .-Use:...
- BacalaítoBacalaítoBacalaítos are salt cod fritters filled with minced cod fish and garnished with cilantro, tomatoes and onions, they are a traditional Puerto Rican snack that typically is eaten with an entire meal. Bacalaítos are served at the beach, cuchifritos, and at festivals...
- BaccalàBaccalàBaccalà is Venetian Language for salt cod. Most baccalà dishes require that the fish be soaked numerous times to remove excess saltiness...
- Cod WarCod WarThe Cod Wars, also called the Icelandic Cod Wars , were a series of confrontations in the 1950s and 1970s between the United Kingdom and Iceland regarding fishing rights in the North Atlantic....
- Dried and salted codDried and salted codDried and salted cod, often called salt cod or clipfish , is cod which has been preserved by drying after salting. Cod which has been dried without the addition of salt is called stockfish....
- Fishing stageFishing stageA fishing stage is a wooden vernacular building, typical of the rough traditional buildings associated with the cod fishery in Newfoundland, Canada. Stages are located at the water's edge or "landwash", and consist of an elevated platform on the shore with working tables and sheds at which fish...
- LutefiskLutefiskLutefisk or Lutfisk is a traditional dish of the Nordic countries and parts of the Midwest United States. It is made from aged stockfish or dried/salted whitefish and lye . It is gelatinous in texture, and has an extremely strong, pungent odor...
- OilfishOilfishThe oilfish, Ruvettus pretiosus, is a species of snake mackerel in the family Gempylidae, and the only species in the genus Ruvettus. It is found in the Mediterranean, middle Atlantic and throughout the southern seas, at depths between 100 and 800 m...
- OverfishingOverfishingOverfishing occurs when fishing activities reduce fish stocks below an acceptable level. This can occur in any body of water from a pond to the oceans....
- ScrodScrodScrod is a young cod or, less frequently, when spelled with an 'h', haddock, split and boned. It is a staple in many coastal New England and Atlantic Canada seafood and fish markets....
- StockfishStockfishStockfish is unsalted fish, especially cod, dried by cold air and wind on wooden racks on the foreshore, called "hjell". The drying of food is the world's oldest known preservation method, and dried fish has a storage life of several years...