SEAFOOD.COM NEWS– January 21, 2014 — It is not unusual for species to be reclassified based on new scientific studies. But when Alaska pollock, which is also called Walleye pollock and supports the largest food fishery in the U.S., gets renamed to be closer to its major competitor – Atlantic Cod – people might notice.
Knowing scientific names is part of the fish business, because with language issues and a multiplicity of similar species, only the scientific name will tell you what you are actually buying.
So for years, the largest whitefish species were Theragra chalcogramma, i.e. Alaska Pollock, and Gadus Morhua, Atlantic Cod. Cods were cod, pollock was pollock, and everything was right with the world.
A group of fishes called gadoids included cod, hakes, pollock, haddock and whiting. Within that group the Gadids included only cod species of Gadus. Now Alaska pollock has joined this exclusive group.
NOAA stepped in and said that based on new evolutionary studies, Alaska pollock was placed in a lineage that included Pacific, Atlantic, and Greenland cod – all gadids. Further the data also showed that Alaska pollock was more closely related to Gadus Morhua than any of the other cods.
So now, Alaska pollock is to be called Gadus chalcogrammus, and it will join Pacific cod, Atlantic cod, and Greenland cod as a true gadid.
In the market, pollock is coming under competitive pressure from abundant Atlantic cod. Maybe now that pollock is a “true cod” the block buyers will adjust and simply call their blocks ‘gadid’ blocks.
Other ripples from this change may be tariff related, as the old pollock species had a different tariff line then cod in some jurisdictions.
To be fair to NOAA, they did not instigate this change. Rather the new classification was published by the American Fisheries Society in their publication of common and scientific names. This is the authority used by NOAA, and hence the change.
This story originally appeared on Seafood.com, a subscription site. It has been reprinted with permission.