Aloha Deanna!

We really enjoyed your movie interview of the cod fisherman. It was so good because we could really understand his frustration about the ups and downs of fishing. We know that cod are an important part of the economy and ecosystem in the Bering Sea so we have a few questions to ask.

What do cod eat? Are they omnivores or carnivores? We heard the fisherman talk about bait in the trap, what do they bait the traps with?

The last question we have is when they catch fish with their traps, do they ever catch fish besides cod? Then what do they do with the fish that aren't cod?

We know that you are probably on the ship breaking through ice by now, but thought that one of the fish biologists onboard might be able to answer these questions. Thank you so much for your time, we love to listen to your journal!

warmly, Mrs. P and students

Deanna Wheeler

Cods are carnivores. Their diet may change over the course of their lives, but mostly they eat crabs and other fish. They are ravenous. Pollock is one of their favorite fish. Trapping cod is not quite as common as netting them in the present day, because they live near the bottom of the ocean and can effectively be caught in large numbers over a short period of time using trawl nets.Cod figures very importantly in human history, so much so that there has recently been a book devoted entirely to the topic, called "Cod". It contains some quite interesting tidbits.
Scientist Cynthia Yeung