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The prime cod fishing grounds of North America have been depleted or wiped out by overfishing and poor management. But in Arctic waters, Norway and Russia are working cooperatively to sustain a highly productive — and profitable – northern cod fishery.
What years of dwelling in the cold Atlantic had amassed, an army of knife-wielding, white-suited Norwegian factory workers were taking apart in just minutes. In a consummate display of optimization, streams of fish parts were whisked along on conveyor belts around and above me, with various cuts destined for their most appropriate markets. Nothing was wasted, not skin, fins, bones, offal, or roe. Fresh tongues went straight to Oslo. Whole heads were bound for Nigeria.
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What was most remarkable, though, was the identity of the fish being processed in what seemed like a sheer embarrassment of biomass: The Atlantic cod – a species that many North Americans would recognize as an emblem of overfishing and regulatory failure.
At Georges Bank and other historical cod fishing grounds of New England, stocks of the once plentiful groundfish are at near record lows. In the fisheries of the Canadian Maritimes, the cod population long ago succumbed to overfishing and collapsed. And yet in the Arctic Circle village of Melbu, at one of nine Norway Seafoods cod processing plants, a productive fishing industry is thriving.
Cod image via Shutterstock.
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