{"id":20893,"date":"2025-07-19T06:50:17","date_gmt":"2025-07-19T06:50:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/20893\/"},"modified":"2025-07-19T06:50:17","modified_gmt":"2025-07-19T06:50:17","slug":"unexpected-genetic-makeover-strikes-a-fish-beloved-by-europeans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/20893\/","title":{"rendered":"Unexpected genetic makeover strikes a fish beloved by Europeans"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Atlantic cod\u2014once a symbol of hearty European fare\u2014has been under relentless fishing pressure for centuries. Now, scientists reveal that this overexploitation is not just depleting populations, but actually rewriting the cod\u2019s genome, driving dramatic changes in their size and life history.<\/p>\n<p>A loss of nearly 50% in size<\/p>\n<p>In the Bornholm Basin of the Baltic Sea, researchers examined cod caught between 1996 and 2019. Tiny ear stones (otoliths) mapped each fish\u2019s annual growth, while DNA analysis pinpointed genetic shifts. Astonishingly, the average adult cod has shrunk from over 40 cm to around 20 cm in just two decades\u2014a staggering loss driven entirely by human <a href=\"https:\/\/www.futura-sciences.com\/en\/overfished-this-popular-fish-species-is-on-the-brink-of-extinction_18707\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">fishing<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/cod_size-1024x576.jpeg\" alt=\"\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>A cod could weigh up to 40 kilos before stocks became overexploited. \u00a9 Jesper Bay, Danish Institute of Fisheries and Marine Research, Thorsten Reusch, GEOMAR<\/p>\n<p>An unprecedented human-driven evolution<\/p>\n<p>Industrial fleets have long targeted the largest cod for maximum yield. Over time, that selective harvesting left only smaller, early-maturing fish to reproduce. Today, genes favoring slower growth and faster maturation dominate the population. \u201cIt\u2019s fascinating scientifically but troubling ecologically,\u201d warns Professor Thorsten Reusch.<br \/>Despite a fishing moratorium in the Baltic since 2019, these genetic changes have become entrenched. Recovery won\u2019t be quick: reversing such <a href=\"https:\/\/www.futura-sciences.com\/en\/point-of-no-return-for-orcas-and-dolphins-why-theyve-crossed-an-irreversible-evolutionary-threshold_18664\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">evolution<\/a> could take decades or more. As cod stocks struggle, this case stands as a stark reminder of the lasting impact of human choices\u2014and the long road ahead for true recovery.<\/p>\n<p>                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/img-00411-100x100.webp.webp\" class=\"attachment-100x100 size-100x100 wp-post-image\" alt=\"Ang\u00e8le Ingrand\" itemprop=\"image\"  \/>                <\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t        Ang\u00e8le Ingrand                <\/p>\n<p>\n    Science journalist    <\/p>\n<p>Fascinated by nature and zoology since childhood, this journalist chose to share her passion through journalism after completing her biology studies. Now in her third year at the journalism school in Cannes, she works at Futura, where she is dedicated to making science accessible and raising public awareness of environmental issues.<\/p>\n<p>                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/auteur-fs-100x100.webp.webp\" class=\"attachment-100x100 size-100x100\" alt=\"author-fs\" itemprop=\"image\"  \/>                <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Atlantic cod\u2014once a symbol of hearty European fare\u2014has been under relentless fishing pressure for centuries. Now, scientists reveal&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20894,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[200,79],"class_list":["post-20893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-genetics","tag-genetics","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20893"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20893\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}