What About Cod Hatcheries?
Retired fisherman Jim Kimbrell has been thinking about Gulf of Maine cod. His concern has led him to research whatever he can find on restoration fish hatcheries. Jim has sent us letters, references and weblinks regarding successful fish hatcheries in the United States.
Jim’s not alone in thinking about this great iconic fish that has been as much a part of New England as the great white pine, fishing culture and the Gulf of Maine itself.
Too many are his postings to publish at one time, a few of them appear below. We’ll post a few more next month. The weblinks are also on our website-fishermensvoice.com- for easier web surfing.
From Jim Kimbrell:
It does seem like a wild idea, restock the ocean from a fish hatchery. When compared to other programs, a hatchery might not be all that expensive. It is also something that has not really been tried. It is a proactive approach of rebuilding the codfish population, or any fish population for that matter. The current approach of rebuilding the fish stocks has been to do nothing, Stop all fishing activity, and hope the codfish will make a come back on their own. I think a proactive approach is a better idea.
The forest industry plants new trees in places where they have cut. Cattlemen artifically fertilize cattle to grow their herds. Farmers put fertilizer in the fields to make their crops grow better. Farmers also plant cover crops to help improve their soil conditions. One fisherman can’t very well build his own hatchery to improve his fishing. One fisherman shares the ocean with many other fishermen. Fishermen only take from the ocean and never put anything back.
Except for lobstermen, who can put back small lobsters and v-notched female lobsters. The lobster fishery is not in a condition of near collapse, like some fish species. The economic downturn is a problem for lobstermen, but the lobster population is doing well. In the State of Maine, the state buys and releases female lobsters that they have v-notched.
A modern fish hatchery could release literally billions of cod fish. It would be somewhat of an infrastructure program. A stimulus package for fishermen.
Below is some interesting information.
Sincerely, Jim Kimbrell
Email: bgkandjkk@gmail.com
• The story of a fish hatchery. http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/history/ships/fishawk/fishawk.html
• The story about an American fish hatchery at Woods Hole. http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/history/stories/century.html
• A link to an amazing story. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=2&res=9A05EFDD1E3CEE3ABC4D52DFB4668389699FDE
• Also another must read link http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9D02E2D61239E033A25750C0A9639C94609ED7CF
Information about a hatchery that is releasing fish in Canada
http://www.ringwoodhatchery.ca/