A Phys.Org story reports that the level of codfish spawning in one of the most critical fisheries in the Northeast U.S. is at an all-time low.
National Marine Fisheries Service scientists say the amount of cod spawning in the Gulf of Maine is estimated at 3 to 4 percent of its target level. That number declined from 13 to 18 percent three years ago. Scientists say low levels of reproduction in the fishery are holding re-population back.
Federal regulators cut the Gulf of Maine cod harvest quota by 77 percent before the 2013-14 fishing season, and that's still in effect. The federal New England Fishery Management Council is working on new management measures for the species.
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Codfish Numbers at Key Fishery Hits All-Time Low
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(Score: 2) by frojack on Monday August 11 2014, @02:02AM
The actual story in in This Link [phys.org] which appears at the bottom of the linked page.
So working from bad data led the bad decisions.
What happened to the Atlantic Herring?
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by Vanderhoth on Monday August 11 2014, @10:50AM
They gathered in schools. I hear they're all quite well read now! *ba da ching*
Get it? READ HERRING!!
Jokes are not my strong point...
"Now we know", "And knowing is half the battle". -G.I. Joooooe
(Score: 2) by nukkel on Monday August 11 2014, @08:01PM
That's rad!
(Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Monday August 11 2014, @01:19PM
They're all red.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 11 2014, @02:52AM
Oh, my, fucking cod!
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday August 11 2014, @04:03AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Monday August 11 2014, @03:44AM
Here in San Diego for the last couple months cod's been going for $4.99/lb, used to be north of $8.99/lb. Works for me, I love cod.
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Monday August 11 2014, @11:18AM
Whatever it is, its almost certainly not cod at that price
http://oceana.org/en/our-work/promote-responsible-fishing/seafood-fraud/overview [oceana.org]
Probably relabeled pollack or asian catfish or something like that.
The level of corruption in the fish biz is about 10-20 times higher than the land livestock biz.
(Score: 1) by Skittles on Monday August 11 2014, @01:58PM
It's pacific cod.
http://www.fishchoice.com/buying-guide/pacific-cod [fishchoice.com]
(Score: 2) by VLM on Monday August 11 2014, @02:24PM
Hmm that's pacific aka Alaskan Cod. Not the atlantic fisheries that are almost totally collapsed from this article. I think it tastes different.
Have no fear, the same kind of people and biz model that destroyed the great lakes and atlantic fisheries will annihilate your pacific fisheries soon enough.
(Score: 2) by nukkel on Monday August 11 2014, @08:04PM
I too enjoy a codpiece every now and then.
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Monday August 11 2014, @04:11AM
But, Expendables 3 is coming out, the CIA is calling for free software for security, and something is fishy about the whole cod stock thing? Is the whole world going mad? (Oh, and a coup AND a civil war AND genocide in Iraq.)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 11 2014, @06:10AM
That's what happens when you base fishing quotas on politics instead of science.
In the past cod has been considered an endangered species by scientists, but not categorized as endangered because of politics.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Vanderhoth on Monday August 11 2014, @11:15AM
Pretty much. Newfoundland pretty much decimated their cod fishery. The south part of the George's Banks was pretty well fished dry by American trawlers. And now Harper has basically turned fishing surveys over to the fishing industry. It's only a matter of time before the North side of George's Banks will be fished dry.
I was on a Canadian fishing survey in George's Banks about three years ago and it was an amazing difference between the American side and the Canadian side. On the Canadian side we were pulling up 30 to 40 baskets of cod, and another 30 to 40 of Haddock and another 30 to 40 of various other species including lobster, flounder, starfish, shrimp, scallops, mussels, herring, and dozens of others. We were busy for hours on end counting weighting and taking otoliths. When we crossed over to the American side we were lucky to get 10 baskets of anything, it was basically 15 minutes of, "Oh look another fifty mussels and two haddock. Ok back to watching TV until the next haul is pulled up." The whole time we were there, there were American trawlers going up and down the border, we were on a Canadian Coast Guard ship, they were all waiting for us to leave so they could skirt over to the Canadian side and fill up.
When you see lobster that's supposedly a "product of Maine" it's actually mostly lobster pouched from Canada or bought from Nova Scotia and sold in the states as a product of Maine. There isn't a whole lot of anything left down on the American side, soon there won't be much here either. Now that industry is pretty well allowed to self regulate and "energy corridors" are in the ocean other water ways now falls under the department of energy instead of Fisheries and Oceans. You want to see politics at play. Harper's fired a ton of fisheries and oceans scientists who do surveys, then downgrade the protection of humpback whales so he can lay a pipeline through their migration route and then he declared the area surrounding the proposed pipeline route as being in the jurisdiction of the Department of Energy. So now Fisheries and Oceans won't be involved in anything remotely related to conservation in the area and he's free to do as he wants there.
Sorry, ranting I know.
"Now we know", "And knowing is half the battle". -G.I. Joooooe
(Score: 1) by Adamsjas on Monday August 11 2014, @07:21PM
If you read the link frojack posted you will see scientists (fishery biologists) were just as much to blame as politicians. Probably more so.
2011 catch allowances were based on 2008 data, and 2011 catch data was measured without understanding that the cod were more densely aggrigated due to the particular type of prey fish they were consuming. Dense fish populations in one area didn't mean dense fish populations everywhere.
The penalty for getting caught illegal fishing is usually loss of the boat. Don't be too ready to believe that American boats will risk a half million dollar boat to snag one net full of cod. It is probably just a canadian fisherman's lament to blame it on someone else for their own greed.
(Score: 2) by Vanderhoth on Monday August 11 2014, @10:18PM
I was on a coast guard ship, I saw the American trawlers with my own eyes skimming up and down the border. My dad is ex-navy, subs, and has been on countless missions where Americans, along with other nationalities (Spanish most notably) were apprehended fishing in Canadian waters. This is actually a well document and common occurrence for George's and the Grand banks. Obviously the loss of a half million dollar ship isn't enough discouragement. I'm not a fisherman, but at the moment Nova Scotia has some of the best fishing on the East Coast and we're working hard to keep it that way through conservation, but we can only control Canadian fisheries. If others are moving into our territory and pouching unless we catch them there's nothing that can be done. Make no mistake the ocean is a big place, unless you just happen to be in the same place as an illegal trawler it's unlikely you'll catch them in the act and actually be able to prosecute them. Even if you do catch them there are international politics at work that almost make it not worth while to do anything about it.
"Now we know", "And knowing is half the battle". -G.I. Joooooe
(Score: 2) by VLM on Monday August 11 2014, @11:21AM
We pump crude oil the same way, legendarily the case with Saudi crude.
Its something of a race, will the last Cod fish be caught before or after the last barrel of oil is recovered from Ghawar field? Its coming up soon, either way.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Monday August 11 2014, @07:46PM
Whatever it is, it stinks.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by bootsy on Monday August 11 2014, @08:09AM
There are plenty of other fish with similar tasting white flesh. Sure cod is nice but so are the other fish. Several UK food programs have done blind taste tests with members of the public, very few could tell the difference and of those that could, most preferred the cod alternative.
(Score: 1) by datapharmer on Monday August 11 2014, @08:31AM
Everyone agrees crystal cod is better. It has fewer calories and none of the artificial coloring!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 11 2014, @10:11AM
Is there anyone else who, after reading the headline, thought it's about cryptography?
(Score: 2) by VLM on Monday August 11 2014, @11:15AM
The extinction of cod-normal form in database design. Because Excel really is the corporate standard database despite whatever the IT people say.