Can Cod Be Saved?
Overfishing and inept management have driven Atlantic cod to the brink. Now climate change looms. Atlantic cod still have a chance at survival, but it’s not going to be easy.

Overfishing and inept management have driven Atlantic cod to the brink. Now climate change looms. Atlantic cod still have a chance at survival, but it’s not going to be easy.
“Polluters are going to be able to get out of compliance, cut corners, save money. And as long as they create the record, EPA is not going to enforce. And that’s going to lead to more pollution in our lungs, in our waters, and affecting the health of our communities.”
“Congress must prioritize people over polluters,” said Bradley Campbell, President of Conservation Law Foundation. “The very communities that continue to suffer disproportionately high rates of disease at the hands of big oil are now directly affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. Any relief legislation must be focused on helping these families and not bailing out big oil and gas.”
For centuries, Atlantic cod has been essential to New England’s identity. Yet today, you can rarely find locally caught cod in a grocery store or on a menu – because it has been fished to the brink of disaster. Here’s what it’s going to take to save New England’s founding fish.
We’re turning promises into meaningful climate action.
This magnificent whale is on the brink of extinction.
In general, plastic bag bans aren’t perfect, wrote policy analyst John Hite for the Conservation Law Foundation, but they’re a good start. Hite pointed out that, even in studies showing that plastic bag bans increased purchases of thicker trash bags and paper bags, the bans consistently decreased the overall use of single-use plastic bags.
“I like this car because of the gas money it saves me,” says CLF Staff Attorney Elena Mihaly about her plug-in electric hybrid. Elena lives on a dirt road in Vermont and commutes 40 miles each way to the CLF office in Montpelier. To save on gas and reduce her carbon footprint, she’s leasing an electric car.
Atlantic cod is in crisis. For decades, our fishery managers have failed to take effective action to stem the problem. Now, a rapidly warming ocean is making cod’s precarious position even worse. Now, CLF is calling on the federal government to follow the law and rebuild Atlantic cod. If management doesn’t improve now, we could lose our founding fish forever.
From more severe storms to prolonged heat waves, climate change is here and it’s happening now. Luckily, clean energy solutions like solar panels can help both our planet and our economy.