By Jim Knox
Most historians agree that the first Thanksgiving was a feast celebrating a successful harvest by the Plymouth colonists in mid-October of 1621. For this feast, the colonists invited the native Wampanoag tribe members of the area, and it was the Wampanoag tribe members who informed that first Thanksgiving menu. In addition to the fruit, vegetables and breads, protein figured prominently, and the fare would surprise you. Beyond venison, waterfowl, and Heath Hens—tragically an extinct species, the menu also featured protein from the sea. While mussels, clams and lobster were introduced to the colonial palate, another North Atlantic denizen made its culinary debut on this side of “the pond”—Atlantic Cod.
The Atlantic Cod, Gadus morhua, is a species that figures so prominently across cultures and centuries that it has been attributed to shaping exploration, survival, nutrition, and even colonization of the New World! Ranging from Western Greenland to the shores of North America, from the Arctic Ocean to North Carolina, the Atlantic Cod has a vast range. A staple of European medieval diets, Cod was eaten by the Vikings on their explorations of North America recorded in the Icelandic sagas. It was also a key commodity driving exploration of the Western Atlantic by the European crowns.
Sporting a deep body, a large blunt head, olive green to reddish brown back and sides with speckling, a silvery belly and a sensory barbel projecting off the chin, Atlantic Cod are instantly recognizable. Reaching record lengths of more than six and a half feet, and weights of more than 211 pounds (the world record caught off Massachusetts in 1895), these cold-water fish are top predators with a tendency to hug the bottom (down to 1,500 feet or more). Due to overfishing’s impact on populations however, Cod over 50 pounds in weight are considered exceptional today.
Historically, the European Cod fishing season occurred only during the summer months, and with the Portuguese, Spanish, and English fishing fleets depleting them to collapse by the late 1500’s, the European demand for this dietary staple far exceeded the known supply. Enter the New World and its seemingly limitless natural resources. With Atlantic Cod stocks confirmed during the first voyages of discovery to North America, enterprising and hungry colonists alike soon took advantage of this exceedingly abundant—and tasty—resource.
As early as 1602, the Cape of St. James was renamed Cape Cod for the untold billions of Cod that swam off its shores. The Cod has been so integral to the history and prosperity of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, that a wooden carving, known as the Sacred Cod of Massachusetts, has hung in the chambers of the Massachusetts House of Representatives continuously since 1784.
Though the fish was eaten fresh, its versatility as a salted food proved tremendously valuable to the fishmongers and exporters of the day as “Salt Cod” and could be kept safe and palatable for years. In the days before refrigeration, this was no small point. “Salted Cod” was not only valuable and nutritious, but it also became a food source and key trade item on both sides of the Atlantic. Young and old, rich, and poor, fishers, farmers, soldiers, and sailors all ate the mild white fish with the delicate flavor and clamored for more. This trade linked New World and Old World economies and consumption and trade spread from Northern Europe to the Mediterranean, West Africa, the Carribean, and Brazil!
What were the attributes that made Cod such a valuable commodity for the table? Cod’s versatility is legendary. Salted, baked, broiled, breaded, fried, or poached, the fish loans itself to any style of preparation at hand. With a delicate flavor and big white flakes, the flesh is ideal by itself, or with other dishes, and complements any seasoning.
While the Cod has undeniably served humanity, what can we humans learn from this creature? For one, abundance is often linked to overharvest. In the case of the Cod, its resilience has been tested by overfishing which has led to a recent population crash. Although the species does bounce back from such pressure, it takes decades to do so. By learning to better sustain resources, we can serve the wild world around us, and ourselves very well. Another notable quality of our aquatic neighbor is its versatility—the kind of versatility that enable it to populate a huge expanse of the Atlantic Ocean and thrive from shallow habitat to more than ¼ mile in depth. Perhaps most significantly, the Atlantic Cod teaches us that if a single wild neighbor can inspire us to explore, colonize, trade, and innovate, imagine what other lessons we can learn from the humblest of creatures.
As a species, we have proven ourselves to learn from experience, model resilience and explore. Over the millennia, we have proven something even more significant; we are at our best when we study the wild world around us and take in the one thing we can never overharvest from nature—knowledge.
Jim Knox serves as the Curator of Education for Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo and as a Science Adviser to The Bruce Museum. A proud member of The Explorers Club, Jim enjoys sharing his passion for wildlife conservation with audiences in Connecticut and beyond.
