"Cod" by Mark Kurlansky 1 Flashcards
Newfoundland
n. a large island off the eastern coast of Canada, at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River. It was united with Labrador (as Newfoundland and Labrador) in 1949 to form a province of Canada.
“In July 1992, the Canadian government closed Newfoundland waters, the Grand Banks, and most of the Gulf of St. Lawrence to ground fishing.”
Labrador
n. a coastal region of eastern Canada that forms the mainland part of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
St. Lawrence
n. a river in North America that flows for about 750 miles (1,200 km) from Lake Ontario along the border between Canada and the US to the Gulf of St. Lawrence on the Atlantic coast.
wharf
a level quayside area to which a ship may be moored to load and unload.
skiff
noun
a shallow, flat-bottomed open boat with sharp bow and square stern.
gunwales
noun (often gunwales)
the upper edge of the side of a boat or ship.
“Cod like the water this time of year because they think ti is warm. But forty-five degrees Fahrenheit is a cod’s idea of warm, and the gunwales around the edge of a trap skiff are only inches high.” (2)
otolith
n. each of three small oval calcareous bodies in the inner ear of vertebrates, involved in sensing gravity and movement.
“…and remove a tiny bone from the head, the otolith, which helps the cod keep its balnce. the rings of the otolith tell the cod’s age.” (4)
calcareous
adjective
containing calcium carbonate; chalky.
ground fish
Groundfish are fish that live on, in, or near the bottom of the body of water they inhabit. Some typical saltwater groundfish species are cod, flounder, halibut, and sole. Related terms used in different contexts include “demersal fish” and “whitefish”, and (more broadly) “bottom feeder” .
“Groundfish, of which the most sought after is cod, are those that live in the bottom layer of the ocean’s water.” (3)
antifreeze
a liquid, typically one based on ethylene glycol, which can be added to water to lower the freezing point, chiefly used in the radiator of a motor vehicle.
“Cod manufacture a protein which functions like antifreeze and enables the fish to survive freezing temperatures.
bank
(Noun) an undersea elevation rising especially from the continental shelf.
“From Newfoundland to southern New England, there is a series of shallow areas called banks, the southernmost being Georges Bank off of Massachusetts, which is larger than the state.”
MD A sailboat shouldn’t bank on avoiding banks when approaching unknown land.
continental shelf
a shallow submarine plain of varying width forming a border to a continent and typically ending in a comparatively steep slope to the deep ocean floor
MD Shelf is flat but once you reach the edge you fall into the abyss which is the ocean floor.
herring
a silvery fish that is most abundant in coastal waters and is of great commercial importance as a food fish in many parts of the world.
“Herring and other midwater species rise to eat the krill near the surface, and seabirds dive for both the krill and the fish.” (43)
shoal
a large number of fish swimming together
“These are huge shoals on the edge of the NOrth American continental shelf.” (43)
midwater
noun
the part of a body of water near neither the bottom nor the surface: whales and seals feed in midwater or on the seabed | [ as modifier ] : midwater fish.
“Herring and other midwater species rise to eat the krill near the surface, and seabirds dive for both the krill and the fish.” (43)
