Cod a Biography of the Fish That Changed the World

Cod: Fish That Changed the World

Environmental science is not just one science and is not concerned only with the environment. Instead, environmental science covers a wide variety of topics from several different areas. The additional areas also go beyond science and link environmental science to subjects such as politics, history, economics, and human geography. One way to consider the interdisciplinary nature of environmental science is to look at an example from the real world. The book Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World by Mark Kurlansky offers a good example. The book describes the impact that cod has had on the world and its basis is environmental science. It also shows the other topics and subjects that became part of the story of cod. This book will now be considered, with a focus on how it shows that environmental science is interdisciplinary.

Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World shows on many occasions that environmental science is also political. One example is seen where Kurlansky describes the fishermen of Sentinel Fishery, Newfoundland, trying to protect their source of cod. The book describes how the fishermen had claimed for years that offshore trawlers were taking their cod and greatly reducing the supply. As the text notes, "government scientists had ignored the cry of inshore fishermen ... The deafness proved costly" (Kurlansky 4). After the fish had declined, the Canadian government finally closed the Newfoundland waters to groundfishing and the cod levels began to improve. The text notes that this was largely a political problem, where the fishermen knew that action needed to be taken, but where the government refused to listen to the fishermen. This has changed now, with a program now in place that allows scientists, the government, and fishermen to work together. One of the important things to note in this case, is that the decision to close the waters to groundfishing could only be done by the government. This shows the direct link between environmental science and politics. The other important thing to note is that fishermen and scientists now work together to maintain cod levels, with the government acting like middlemen. Kurlansky describes the program saying that "a few fishermen in each community are sentries, measuring the progress of the cod stock by catching fish and reporting their findings to government scientists" (Kurlansky 4). This shows that the link between the fishermen and the scientists is managed via a government program. The example of fishing in Newfoundland also shows that the government controls fishing via laws, regulations, the requirement for fishermen to have licenses, and by limiting the number of licenses available. This illustrates the important political link, with the government largely responsible for implementing controls.

Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World also shows that environmental science is partly historical. Kurlansky describes the expeditions of the Vikings, noting that they were able to survive and explore America because they survived on cod. Kurlansky also describes the Basques and says that their expeditions were possible because of cod. In addition, the Basques had salt and were able to dry the cod. This meant they could preserve the cod and travel further. The story of cod then, becomes partly a story of history, showing that there is a link between environmental science and history.

The more important link though, is the economic one. Kurlansky notes that because the Basques could preserve the cod, they were able to trade it. As Kurlansky (22) describes, "By the year 1000, the Basques had greatly expanded the cod markets to a truly international trade that reached far from the cod's northern habitat." Kurlansky also notes that the trading of cod wasn't just an economic issue for the Basques. As Kurlanksy (24) describes, "cod had become widely recognized as a highly profitable commodity." The Scandinavians and the British had both been fishing for cod around Europe and were profiting in the process. Another example is seen where Kurlansky describes the Hanseatic League, a group that regulated trade by controlling the mouths of all the major European rivers. The Hanseatic League tried to use their power to monopolize the cod trade. In doing so, they forced people to search for new sources of cod outside of Europe. This example shows how the economic value of cod impacted its fishing and trade. As soon as cod became a valuable resource, there became a desire to profit from it, which led to conflict. In turn, the conflict changed the methods of fishing cod. This illustrates that environmental science is linked to economics. While the example date back to the 15th century and can seem archaic, the issues involved remain true today. In short, environmental science is related to producing and managing an economic resource. As long as the resource has the potential for profit, there will be groups wanting to exploit the product, monopolize the industry, or profit from the product so much that they do not consider the long-term impact of their actions. Part of environmental science's role is to find the balance between profiting from the resource and maintaining the resource.