Cod the new salmon ?
Jan 8th, 2010 | By editor | Category: ConservationScientists and fishermen have known for a long time that cod prefer certain areas of the ocean over others.
But what scientists are beginning to document is the extent to which the same cod return to the same area to spawn year after year, the way salmon and river herring return to specific water bodies, and how critical protecting those areas may be to the success of rebuilding those fish stocks to healthy levels.
“The whole field is now moving towards that (theory),” said Mike Armstrong, the assistant director of the state Division of Marine Fisheries. “The sad part is, we probably have lost 50 percent (of the distinct spawning populations).”
Successful commercial fishing is all about finding the fish, and good fishermen know where fish are at certain times of the year. With modern technology such as satnav, it’s possible to home in to exactly where fish group together to reproduce and if these are distinct spawning groups, an unfettered fishery can wipe entire spawning groups out – and once a group has been lost, there’s a much slimmer chance of an area being regenerated by random roving fish that don’t have the fidelity to the area.
If that is the case, it could mean that bringing back cod stocks to healthy levels is a lot more complicated than placing limits on the catch.
Condensed fro an article in the Cape Cod Times.
Related posts:
