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Originally Posted by outfished
Seriously though the news is not good. The haddock seem to be rebounding quite well, aren't they related to cod? Same habitat etc.
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They are in the same family -- Gadidae -- and lead very similar, um, lifestyles, shall we say. One explanation for the rebound in haddock could be that they feed lower on the food chain than cod. They eat mostly small invertebrates, versus cod, who eat both invertebrates and fish. According to Daniel Pauly, we are "fishing down the food web", meaning that fishermen are taking the largest, most predatorial fish they can, and working their way down. This would, in theory, leave a better food supply for the haddock than for the cod, aiding in their success. Maybe cod are a little slow on the uptake and don't adapt to changes in prey availability as easily as stripers. That's just my guess, though.