In the high-end seafood market at home and abroad, silver cod definitely occupies a place, and the price remains high all year round. Although it is not cod in the true sense of the word, the meat of the silver cod is also very tender, delicious in taste, and the taste is not inferior to that of Atlantic cod.
The "real body" of the silver cod
The cod, whose true identity is the Canine Tooth Antarctica, is found in the southern waters of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans, and has a distribution area roughly the same as antarctic krill. Both Antarctic fish and Antarctic krill have important commercial development value, but for these two major fishery resources, the rules of the game are very simple - "first come, first served". It is precisely because of this that various countries in the world are scrambling to develop distant-water fisheries and have run to Antarctica to seize the "blue ocean".
As the "wealth code" of Antarctic waters, the Canine Tooth Antarctic Fish was developed several rounds as a commercial fish species by Chile and Argentina as early as the 1970s, and then France, Australia, the United Kingdom and so on also joined in, starting a new round of division frenzy.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > the history of the development of silver cod</h1>
There are actually two species of silver cod on the domestic market, namely the small-scaled canine tooth Antarctic fish and the Mo's canine tooth Antarctic fish, because the market standards of these two species are basically the same, so the following does not distinguish, collectively referred to as canine toothfish.
Moss canine tooth Antarctic fish
Canine toothfish is a large fish that is not compromised, and the largest individual body length found so far has reached 2.38 meters, weighs 130 kg, and has a lifespan of 40 to 50 years. Although it is large, this does not affect the meat quality, taste and safety quality of the canine tooth fish, and there is no need to worry about heavy metals exceeding the standard.
In the juvenile stage, canine toothfish feed mainly on plankton such as krill, and as the body length gradually increases, the type of diet will change significantly. After reaching 3 years of age, Antarctic fish begin to prey on squid and larger shrimp and crabs, and crocodile-headed icefish and long-tailed cod are also within their predation range.
The baby fish of the canine tooth fish
Unlike Antarctic krill, another "ace resource" in Antarctic waters, canine toothfish have a long growth and breeding cycle, at least 8 to 9 years to reach sexual maturity, and the number of eggs produced ranges from 48,000 to 500,000 pieces.
However, whether it is traditional fishing countries such as Chile and Argentina, or emerging countries such as France and Australia, they are more fond of large adult canine toothfish when fishing. This directional approach can easily lead to a shortage of breeding populations, and once the big fish are exhausted, wild populations can take a long time to recover their resources.
In the late 1960s, the first fishing grounds for canine toothfish were confined to the surrounding waters of South Georgia; by the 1970s, fishing had expanded to most of the southern Indian Ocean. Between 1977 and 1978, the scope of the fishery was further extended to the entire Southern Ocean, and the busy scene of distant-water fishing vessels from multiple countries working together can often be seen in the fisheries in the convention area.
Distribution ranges of the two species of canine toothfish (blue and yellow areas in the figure)
By the 1980s, the Soviet Union began to use longline fishing to catch canine toothfish, with an annual production of about 4,000 to 9,000 tons. For the krill resources in the waters near Antarctica, the Soviet Union's distant-water fishing boats naturally did not miss the opportunity to "eat crabs". In 1982, the Soviet Union's capture of Antarctic krill alone reached a record 490,000 tons. Throughout the 1980s, the Soviet Union held two major resources in its hands, and its fishing production ranked first in the world.
In the early 1990s, more and more countries began to take note of canine toothfish resources and increased their fishing efforts. Today, 40 countries and regions around the world are involved in the fishing, processing and global trade of canine toothfish, and the industry is getting bigger and bigger.
Canine toothfish
It is important to note that as a public fisheries resource, commercial fishing of canine toothfish is subject to quotas from the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Biological Resources (CCAMLR). Among the organization's current member states, the most important beneficiaries are France, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, which together account for more than 80% of global production (excluding IUU fisheries) in which the four "harvesters" in the title combine.
In 2011, France's catch accounted for 45% of the total, making it the biggest winner in the global canine fish industry. Since most of the canine toothfish sold in the international market come from France, the canine tooth fish is also known as the French silver cod.
< h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > China loses the "cake" and canine toothfish is in crisis? </h1>
Some people may ask, China also has its own distant-water fishing boats, why has not seen the Chinese-caught cod in the market?
This is an awkward question, but china did officially join CCAMLR in 2009 and became a member of it. According to international rules, whether it is Antarctic krill or Antarctic fish, a strict country quota system must be implemented before fishing, that is, how much quota is allocated to a certain country, and the actual catch of a specific species in that country cannot exceed the quota.
Canine tooth fish body
Since China does not have historical fishing data for canine toothfish, it lacks an important reference basis when determining quotas, which eventually leads to China's inability to obtain quotas, and without quotas, it is naturally impossible to fish. Although China has no chance to divide this "cake" for the time being, it is still very promising to get a certain quota in the future - provided that antarctic canine toothfish resources can be effectively restored and flourished.
In terms of horizontal comparison, the resource reserves of canine toothfish are far less than those of Antarctic krill, and countries around the world have not yet surveyed the resources of canine toothfish, and the resource survey of Antarctic krill has been completed as early as the beginning of this century. From this point of view, the resource protection of canine toothfish is still at a disadvantage, and the existing quota may even exceed a reasonable range.
In fact, almost all fish stocks in the entire Antarctic sea, except antarctic krill, are heavily affected by man-made fishing. As early as the early 1980s, demersal fish stocks such as patterned Antarctic fish, crocodile head icefish and gray Antarctic fish were on the verge of depletion, and the production of canine toothfish also shrank significantly during the same period (see the table below for details).
Fishing of antarctic fish with small scales
Compared with Antarctic krill, which reproduces quickly and replaces quickly, Antarctic demersal fish grow more slowly, have longer breeding cycles, and are less "resistant" to artificial fishing. Harvesting Antarctic krill with the frequency of cutting leeks is fine, but not for harvesting higher demersal fish, after all – the latter requires longer resource recovery times.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > the "silver cod chaos" in the domestic market</h1>
Generally speaking, the highest quality cod that can be bought in the domestic market is generally silver cod, and the price ranges from 300 to 400 yuan / kg. However, in order to seek huge profits, some unscrupulous merchants often use bare-covered fish and spiny snake mackerel with lower economic value to impersonate.
Bare-covered fish
The bare-covered fish is also a cold-water benthic fish that can be caught in the Yellow, Bohai and East China Seas. Naked fish has a greasy taste, its moisture content is as high as 70%, crude protein accounts for only about 16% of body weight, and the edible value is not high.
Spiny snake mackerel
As for the spiny snake mackerel, commonly known as oil fish in China, more than 40% of the fish meat is wax fat, after eating, the human intestine can not digest and absorb, there will be serious diarrhea. Some unscrupulous merchants play the names of "dragon cod", "maga cod", "cod" to fool consumers, and some merchants are relatively conscientious and mark the trade name of the oil fish as "fake cod", but this is also suspected of rubbing heat.
So, how should ordinary consumers distinguish between real and fake cod?
First of all, from the appearance point of view, the authentic high-quality silver cod fish meat is naturally milky white (if it is beige, it means that it has been left for too long and is not fresh), and the surface part of the body is black. In addition, the scales of silver cod are small (the scales of bare-lipped fish and spiny snake mackerel are very large), the flesh is rough and tight, and it has a lumpy feeling when eating, while the oil fish is very easy to cook and cannot be clipped with chopsticks.
French silver cod
From the perspective of market price, the wholesale price of "fake cod" is generally only a dozen yuan a catty, and it can even be sold for seventy or eighty yuan in the market, which is quite profitable. But even so, the price can not catch up with the real silver cod, the "real body" pricing is generally more than 100 yuan.
In short, the domestic cod market is very chaotic, and some products cannot distinguish the specific species and source from the meat quality alone. The best way to do this is to establish a unified market standard and label specific Latin literary names, so that consumers can easily avoid being subject to an "IQ tax" imposed by bad businesses.
What do you think about overfishing and market chaos in cod? Feel free to leave a message in the comments section to discuss!
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