For Cod and Country
In 1638, it was clear to the people of Plymouth, Massachusetts, that there were fewer cod and striped bass in their coastal waters because they knew what we were capable of. They did not blame divine intervention or the biblical call to “fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
By 1615, cod was gone from the ocean waters around Britain. English doggers and ketches were making long voyages to fish Newfoundland’s Grand Banks. Eighteen years after arriving in America and aware of England’s loss of cod, Pilgrims noticed a decline in the fish population in Massachusetts Bay. They understood that here, the problem was not the catching of cod for food because the catch dwarfed the number of cod. Our land actions were harming more cod than we were by hook or net. The settlers were damming streams, draining wetlands, creating cranberry bogs, and converting salt marshes into upland hayfields. Legislation was passed that banned the use of cod and striped bass to fertilize fields.
After 1638, the memory of how we could mess up life for cod faded with each generation. There were many generations during the 338 years preceding the next law to protect cod, the Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Conservation and Management Act, which was passed in 1976. The law did not fully understand the situation of the cod, nor did it address the concerns raised by the 1638 law. It was more about national pride and Cold War politics. Russian state-backed industrialized fleets and Japanese trawlers fished far offshore along the bountiful continental slope waters 90 to 120 fathoms deep off New England and Alaska. Unlike America’s fishing fleet racing to market, these mammoth ships processed fish onboard.
Senators Magnuson and Stevens, both World War II veterans, authored the law that extended American waters out to 200 miles, establishing the exclusive fisheries zone. Regional fishery councils were created to maximize the yield of seafood for the country’s benefit. These fishery management councils are comprised of half government personnel, including the National Marine Fisheries Service, and half private interests, primarily fishermen and marketers.
The fishery councils manage fish stocks. Stocks were the wooden staves on which cod was dried. Cod is a stockfish, the only species of fish that, when filleted and butterflied open, can be cured by bacteria in the air to last for a few years. Every other fish needed salt for preservation. Air-curing cod was discovered well before the ninth century, while salt curing did not occur until the fourteenth century.
For 400 years, dried cod was the essential food that made long-distance multi-year voyages possible. Cod became a valuable commodity because it did not spoil within hours, allowing it to be stockpiled and traded. Catching as much cod as possible proved to be rewarding rather than wasteful. Over time, the Baltic Sea was overfished for cod. The cod-wealthy Norse, eyeing the North Sea’s abundant cod, purchased Normandy in 911. After 1066, the Normans had the opportunity to further accumulate wealth by fishing for cod in the Atlantic.
Today, there are 232 commercially valuable fish stocks managed by regional fishery councils, out of a total of 478 known fish stocks. There are two cod fish stocks in New England: cod in the Gulf of Maine and cod on Georges Bank. Since 2000, 50 fish stocks have been rebuilt, including haddock, pollock, ocean perch, and monkfish. This leaves about a dozen fish stocks still being rebuilt, including the two cod stocks.
The tide was turned from managing fisheries for maximum profit to focusing on sustaining the fish population in the sea when the Ocean River Institute teamed up with a commercial striped bass fisherman and a commercial boat operator as plaintiffs to successfully sue the government to adopt an ecosystem-based approach in setting the catch limits for herring and shad. The overfishing of these forage fish had led to striped bass becoming emaciated from hunger. The fish we caught for fertilizer and pet food were unable to play a crucial role in the food chain, topped by bluefin tuna and whales. When establishing the catch limits for herring and shad, the fishery council now considers all the ecosystem’s needs for these fish.
Meanwhile, without significant government investment, fishing efforts in our “exclusive economic zone," which extends up to 200 miles offshore, have never matched the hoovering done by Russian and Japanese-built factory ships. For the loss of fish and the prospect of a lifeless ocean, we blame the brave souls who venture out in relatively small vessels, enduring wind, weather, high seas, and the ocean’s fury to catch fish. It’s high time we thought like a Pilgrim for cod and country and asked what we are doing and what can be done on land to improve conditions for life in the ocean.
You may support Clam Chowdah Narratives and the work of the Ocean River Institute, a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit, by purchasing and proudly wearing the For Cod and Country t-shirt or crewneck sweatshirt, available in a wide variety of dark colors that make the cod pop. Fabrics include 100% organic, combed ring-spun cotton and blends with recycled polyester for added strength, as well as modal sourced from beech trees for a soft touch. Visit the Ocean River Institute Store at Bonfire.
