I love seafood. I've eaten it for as long as I can remember. Clams, Mussels, Crab, Shrimp, Oysters, I love it all.
When I was younger I never cared for the fish portion that usually came with a platter. Often deeply breaded and fried I never got any enjoyable flavors out of it.
Slowly that changed over the years. Not counting Salmon and Tuna I originally thought that all fish tasted the same. As a teen I had halibut that had been marinated in teriyaki and loved it. I was able to have red snapper, sea bass, and halibut that wasn't altered by any strong sauce. I thought that perhaps it was cod I didn't like until one day I ate a dish that made me wanting more. Noting that I was also liking peppers and olives, two foods I hadn't cared for before, I figured my taste buds had matured.
Even with a newfound love for the taste of cod I didn't think it could be a valid subject for a history book. Mark Kurlansky proved me wrong. Not only is his book well researched it is well written, never mired in boring dates or names. His claim, that cod changed the World, is not hyperbole.
When cod is salted and dried it is practically 80% protein and can last indefinitely. Folks of the Middle Ages needed cheap food that would survive without refrigeration. Cod was the answer, and also answered the Catholics need for protein on Fridays and Lent.
The pursuit of cod was the backbone for John Cabot's exploration of the New World and those who followed him. Those who were able to establish fisheries became millionaires. The colonists made money in a triangle-trade between Africa and the Caribean. George III's attempts to tax or squelch that trade was a major bone of contention that led to the Revolution.
Students in the Pacific Northwest learn how Britain and America nearly went to war once over a pig and a potato field. Britain and Iceland actually did go to war, over fishing rights, three times and all in the 20th century.
Iceland depended on cod for their entire economy, it was only a small portion of England's. As all the nations depleted the stock and fish became more scarce Iceland was instrumental in the maritime nations having 200 miles of ocean be their territory. England opposed it, saying that the ocean should be open for anyone regardless of how close to another country's shore it was. England would sing a different tune later when Spain wanted to be admitted to the European Union's waters.
Cod is a hearty fish. It can survive more punishment than a salmon. It is disease resistant and has very few predators. Unfortunately one of its predators is man, whose greed knows no satiety. Long Lines and Bottom Trawlers have done their part to turn former breeding grounds into an ocean desert. When old fishing grounds run dry fishermen commonly blame outsiders. Instead of considering conservation methods and their own impact on the environment, they compensate for a small catch by using a bigger net.
William Hooper said, "The biggest problem we have is the fault of the Spanish." He was asked how it could all be the fault of the Spanish since they were newcomers and the catch had been declining for forty years. Hooper thought a minute and then added, "Yes, the Scots used to overfish."
I love the taste of cod and other fish too. As much as it dismays me I would be willing to give it up, a sort of Anti-Lent, in order to allow the stock to replenish itself. Unfortunately Man and Nature might take the decision out of my hands.
In January 1994, a new minister, Brian Tobin, announced an extension of the moratorium. All the Atlantic cod fisheries in Canada were to be closed except for one in southwestern Nova Scotia, and strict quotas were placed on other ground species. Canadian cod was not yet biologically extinct, but it was commercially extinct - so rare that it could no longer be considered commercially viable. Just three years short of the 500-year anniversary of the reports of Cabot's men scooping up cod in baskets, it was over. Fishermen had caught them all.
That was 11 years ago, and it hasn't gotten better.
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