Seafood Codexery

Cod

A mild-flavored, flaky white fish from the genus Gadus, popular in fish and chips and valued for its liver oil.

Last updated

Cod

Hans-Petter Fjeld · via Wikipedia: Cod · CC BY-SA 2.5

Within genus Gadus, the species Gadus chalcogrammus is usually called Alaska pollock or walleye pollock, but less common trade names for it include snow cod and bigeye cod.[1] Depending on water depth, Atlantic cod can alter its appearance, exhibiting either a gray-green or a reddish brown coloration.[2]

Quick Facts

Scientific name
Gadus (genus)
Common species
Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), Pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus)
Family
Gadidae
Habitat
North Atlantic and northern Pacific, demersal at depths of 6–600 m / 19.7–1,969 ft
Average weight
5–12 kg (Atlantic cod); Pacific cod smaller
Known for
  • Popular food fish
  • key ingredient in fish and chips
  • source of cod liver oil

Facts from the source article.

Key facts and history

Cod have three rounded dorsal fins and two anal fins, with pelvic fins set under the gill cover.[3] Atlantic cod live in colder waters throughout the North Atlantic, while Pacific cod are found in both eastern and western Pacific regions.[4] Cod has been an important economic commodity since the Viking period around 800 AD.[5] In the 17th and 18th centuries, cod became a major commodity in Massachusetts and Newfoundland.[6]

On July 2, 1992, Canada declared a two-year moratorium on the Northern Cod fishery after the biomass collapsed to less than 1% of its normal value.[7] Dried cod accompanied Norwegians on their travels, which led to the emergence of a market for this product in southern Europe that has persisted for over a millennium.[5] The two-year moratorium was made permanent, and roughly 12,000 tonnes of Northwest cod continue to be harvested each year by local fishers.[8]

What the cited sources add

The same source reports that between the 1960s and 1990s, the cod population declined by as much as 95 percent.[9] A 2019 report commissioned by Oceana Canada estimated that healthy northern cod stocks could support economic activities worth $233 million in 11 years.[9] The Alaska pollock is a member of the cod family, according to a 2014 SeafoodSource article.[10] The same announcement notes that Northern cod is now the largest spawning stock biomass of any cod stock in the world.[11]

Northern Gulf cod remains in the critical zone, with no directed commercial fishery authorized from 2026–27 to 2028–29.[11]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Cod" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute: Whitefish Buyers Guide. (Memento of the original as of 26 September 2006 in the Internet Archive).; SeafoodSource.com (23 January 2014): Alaska pollock .; Doré, Ian (1991): The New Fresh Seafood Buyer's Guide: A manual for distributors, restaurants, and retailers , p. 126.; SeafoodSource.com (23 January 2014): Alaska pollock . (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Cod" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: ; (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Cod" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Endo, "Cod's Journey Back Home—From Birth to Nursery", Frontiers for Young Minds, 2021 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Cod" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Cod" , Encyclopædia Britannica online 2008 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Cod" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Barrett, "What was the Viking age and when did it happen? A view from Orkney", Norwegian Archaeological Review, 2000, p. 1–39 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Cod" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Kurlansky, "Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World", Walker, 1997 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Cod" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The cod delusion", canadiangeographic.ca; Hamilton and Butler, 1.; Mason, "The Newfoundland Cod Stock Collapse: A Review and Analysis of Social Factors", Electronic Green Journal, 2002 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Cod" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Fish still missing, traditions extinct 30 years after N.L. cod moratorium CBC News", 2024-01-07; Mason, "The Newfoundland Cod Stock Collapse: A Review and Analysis of Social Factors", Electronic Green Journal, 2002; Mason, "The Newfoundland Cod Stock Collapse: A Review and Analysis of Social Factors", Electronic Green Journal, 2002; "The cod delusion", canadiangeographic.ca (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  9. "The cod delusion", canadiangeographic.ca. facts only, no text reused. canadiangeographic.ca
  10. SeafoodSource.com (23 January 2014): Alaska pollock .. facts only, no text reused. seafoodsource.com
  11. "Northern cod quota to increase 55 per cent: Minister Thompson announces 2026 management decisions for Northern cod, Northern Gulf cod, and Northeast and south coast capelin for Newfoundland and Labrador", www.canada.ca,. facts only, no text reused. canada.ca

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Cod (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

More in Seafood

Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

Spotted an error? Know more?

Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced

Comments

Loading…
Open in the interactive codex →