#CauseForOptimism - The Phoenix Fish (Cod Comeback)

As promised, here's another post intended to emphasize a #CauseForOptimism despite the litany of depressing headlines from normal news sources. Bear with me, because it starts out on the dark side of the spectrum... but there's a light at the end of the tunnel. (Or maybe sunlight over the abyss?)

The Goodreads Green Group of which I'm a member is currently reading the nonfiction book Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World. It's a familiar tale of tragedy of the commons: various nations selfishly compete to grab as large a share as possible of the "limitless supply" of northern cod until they very nearly fish this precious natural food source into oblivion. Here's a graph that makes the tragedy... well, graphic:

Don't get too depressed. The book was published almost 2 decades ago, in 1997. So where does the situation stand today? I was curious... and hoping for a happy ending. I at least found that precious cause for optimism.

With some rigorous (and undoubtedly painful) moratoria on harvesting the decimated northern cod, the fish are making a dramatic comeback. They're not out of the woods (or maybe the nets? ;-) completely yet, but they're recovering, coming back from the brink. Here's an updated graph that shows the trend since Mark Kurlansky published his powerful, cautionary "cod biography":

Here's an article that goes into more detail about this "phoenix fish" rising from the ashes (so to speak):

Science Daily - The great northern cod comeback

Once again, science (and some common-sense governmental policies based on actually heeding that science) gives us hope. Thanks, codfish; I needed that!

#SFWApro