Cod Damn It.

I picked up the Cape Cod Times this morning and what did I see? Terrible freaking news about scientific research on cod stocks in Stellwagen Bank. In 2008 apparently there was a massive explosion of baby codfish in the area and fishing rules were adjusted accordingly. Now scientists are saying that this huge litter of cod gave us false hope that cod stocks were healthy and now (again) because of this, our beloved cods are being overfished. I am always skeptical when it comes to scientific data and the fishing industry. How can they come to two completely separate conclusions regarding cod stocks from the same scientific data they gathered in 2008? Science research of course is funded mainly by environmental groups and as we all know MONEY TALKS. Trawlgate  the scandal of 2000 is another perfect example of scientists fucking shit up for the fishermen because of miscalculated research methods.

Outer Town Dock in Woods Hole by local artist Sean Boyce

Ask a seafood purveyor at Hunts Point in the Bronx, NY and they will tell you that there is nothing wrong with the biomass index of the cod species. Ask a cod fisherman who lands 113,000 lbs of cod per year and he will tell you there are plenty of fish in the sea. Enviro's point their fingers at fishermen saying that they are fishing the oceans clean. Fishermen don't want the cod to become extinct, that is their livelihood!

The wall of my house in Woods Hole by local artist Tammy

New stricter regulations on cod fishing is really going to razzle already economically marginalized Mass fishermen. Not allowing them to catch cod could put 90 percent of the codfishing fleet completely out of business. Codfish swim with other species that are caught commercially further complicating matters. Read more about the dilemma in this article from the NY Times. The fishermen might make it to the endangered species list if things keep going the way they are now...

FV Nobska my father's cod fishing boat painted by Martha Buckett