Cod --Sacred or Scarce?

"Fishery management officials...voted to impose drastic new cuts to the commercial harvest of cod along the Atlantic coast, arguing that the only way to save the centuries-old cod fishing industry was to sharply limit it."

Is this a Canadian press release issued by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans from twenty-five years ago? No is was made this past Wednesday by the New England states where the cod fishery still exists, but is rapidly failing. There was a time when this fishery was so vital to the state of Massachusetts that there is a "sacred cod" hanging in the assembly in Boston -- is the motto "In Cod we Trust?" The carving is 1.5 metres long, which is impressive, but in another day cod were hauled up measuring two metres in length, and weighing 100 kilograms. It is estimated that what once seemed to be an inexhaustible resource is at about one percent of traditional populations. The once abundant cod is now an endangered species.

There is a personal fishery for the cod in Newfoundland now, meaning that individuals can catch a few for a family feed. But there may never be a commercial fishery again, of any note. When we lived there thirty years ago I actually went out jigging for cod with parishioners, which makes me feel like a relic from the past...don't say it!

The book of Genesis tells us to be stewards of the earth and sky and seas, not plunderers. It is a message we steadfastly ignore, to our peril. With a tip of the hat to an adage from another day, if we can marvel at a Canadian astronaut circling the planet taking breath-taking photos, why can't we take of the planet itself? That we don't is a sin.

Were you aware that the Americans were still fishing for cod? Does it matter to you whether those ugly old cod exist or not? Do you like fish and chips?