THE LAST ATLANTIC COD IN THE SEA? Can Cod Be Saved?

• Author: Bergman, Megan Mayhew

Overfishing and inept management have driven cod to the brink. Now climate change looms. Atlantic cod still have a chance at survival, but it's not going to be easy.

FOR CENTURIES, ATLANTIC COD has been essential to New England's identity. Yet today, you can rarely find locally caught cod in a grocery store or on a menu--because it has been fished to the brink of disaster.

Because of historically low population counts in 2019, New England fishermen can no longer catch enough cod to make a profit. How did the numbers of this iconic species--once so plentiful that it became the backbone of local identity and industry --plummet to such levels?

"Overfishing got us here," says CLF Senior Science Fellow Dr. Gareth Lawson, "and climate change is going to make it harder for us to get out."

As a marine scientist, Lawson has spent upwards of 100 days a year on small vessels, waded through cod nurseries, and tagged hundreds of the fish. He enjoys fishing and prefers to eat cod salted since an old skipper in Newfoundland taught him the art.

Though scientists are encouraged to maintain neutral positions, Lawson has witnessed Atlantic cod's downward trajectory firsthand and knows the stakes are high. "There's this narrative among some commercial fishermen that there are tons of fish out there, that fishermen can't get away from cod. But all of the available, independent data suggests otherwise. We can't risk fishing the last vestiges of a population."

Lawson moved from academia into advocacy when he became tired of just describing the problem. "It's time to talk about solutions," he says. "Ultimately, the fish need refuge. These are last gasp populations we have to protect. This is about standing up for science and saving fish for future generations."

Others at CLF feel this urgency as well. "The window for rebuilding the cod population in New England is closing rapidly," says CLF's senior counsel, Peter Shelley, who has advocated for sustainable fisheries for decades. "The species is in real trouble, and it's essential to ensure all fish populations are as resilient as possible before the stress of climate change alters environments even further."

WHY HAVEN'T PEOPLE BEEN MORE motivated to protect cod in the way we often protect birds or land animals?

"Here's the thing about cod," Lawson says, "or fish in general. People don't see what they do. Even if you're a fisherman, you bring a fish up on deck, and it's dead. The fish don't talk or express displeasure. So we don't think about their lives."

Lawson, however, has learned to see more deeply--literally. "What grabbed me about cod is that, through technologies like submarine exploration and sonar, I could finally see what's happening beneath the surface," he says. "I'm motivated by an appreciation of their complexity."

Lawson wishes that people could witness the elaborate cod...