Why is the “wild-caught Pacific Cod” I bought at the store yesterday imported from Norway?
The fish are caught in the Northern Pacific Ocean, frozen on the ship, transported to Norway for processing, and then exported to the southwestern United States.
The people at the grocery store that make the little signs and labels are just making stuff up.
The fish are Greenlandic Cod. Recent genetic studies have suggested that the Greenlandic Cod (Gradus odac) are actually the same species as the Pacific Cod (Gradus macrocephalus).
The fish are mislabeled Atlantic Cod (Gadus morhua).
I waste too much time worrying about things that don’t really matter.
Salmon farms are always Atlantic salmon, and they do exist on the west coast. I’m under the impression that there’s a lot of mis-labeled fish in the market, so that’s my vote in the poll.
I guessed mis-labeled cod and I’d be really surprised if it’s actually Pacific cod processed in Norway. I mean, Norway sends frozen fish to China and bring it back processed because it can be cheaper to turn it into fish fingers there. Norwegian labor is expensive, even compared to the US. (Even using the current terrible* exchange rates Norwegian median salaries are 20% higher than in the US.)
*I sold my apartment in Norway and am waiting for it not to be the worst time in decades to transfer some of the money.
Voted other; because I think it could be “caught in the Northern Pacific Ocean, frozen on the ship, transported to Norway for processing”; or could be “mislabeled Atlantic Cod”; or could be Greenlandic cod carrying a confusng label based on the theory that they’re the same species. And I have no idea which.
The fish was caught in the North Pacific by somebody, processed and frozen and taken to Norway for packaging, then brought to the US. It doesn’t seem complicated to me.
Pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus) is imported to Norway from the US. It is very similar in appearance to the Norwegian cod. It can reach lengths of up to 48-49 cm and weigh up to 15 kg. It is found around the rim of the North Pacific Ocean, from the Yellow Sea to the Bering Strait, along the Aleutian Islands, and south to about Los Angeles.
My first job out of college was on a Russian factory ship in the Bering Sea. I kept track of the amount of fish caught and sent in a daily radio report of the tonnage. The first week I was out we were catching pacific cod until the fishery was closed and we moved on to pollock.
Basically, every country has an exclusive economic zone of 200 miles from their shore. How it works (or did in 1989) is first rights go to American fishing boats. If there is still available stocks then “joint ventures” get to fish. A joint venture is an American fishing boat catching for a foreign country processing boat. Finally, if any stocks remain it can go to foreign fishing/processing boats.
If one of these countries wants to fish in our zone they have to have an “observer” on board to allow for the management of the fishery. The year I was out there were 24 countries with boats in our waters. I would bet that’s how you can have Norwegian Pacific Cod. They sent a ship there to process fish caught by an American boat.
I’m going to go with “Wild Caught Pacific Cod” is a trademark licensed by a tilapia conglomerate, along with “Sushi Grade” “Dolphin Safe” “Sustainably Harvested” along with “Halibut” and “Sockeye Salmon”
I went with “Making It Up”, but I think it’s most likely the fish processor was using a loose definition of Norway. A lot of ocean caught fish are processed in floating fish factories - big ships custom built to receive catch from fishing boats and then send it to port. Norwegian firms are big in this market and it’s probably a Norwegian owned factory ship that “exported” the Pacific Cod into the US supply chain.
That may well be. The ship that caught the fish may or may not be Norwegian. The ship that processed the fish may or may not be Norwegian. The fish may be fully packaged at sea and delivered directly to the US market from a Norwegian ship, or they may be taken back to Norway for further processing or not. Norway is shipping fresh and frozen fish to the US on a steady basis and they have boats returning to Norway on a regular basis so the travel distance isn’t all that important.
Just remember, Norway doesn’t have to be involved except for some legal necessities to satisfy whatever “Imported from Norway” means.
I think it is most likely the manner I stated in my previous post. I used to own a seafood restaurant and purchased over 7000 lbs. of Pacific cod each year, delivered fresh on the east coast. There might be 7000 lbs. of Pacific cod delivered to that port daily. Taking fish in fresh or frozen form to Norway for further processing is no big deal.
I’d also recommend Pacific cod over the Atlantic variety. Atlantic cod have been overfished and need a break.
You totally win the thread for best attention step. Bravo!
Even though you seem to have had a clean hands job above decks that sounds simply horrific. I’d be morbidly fascinated to hear more.
And I say this as a guy whose first job out of college can be loosely described as chasing and occasionally killing narcotraficantes in the Latin American countryside. Such fun. Not.
