cod which has by any criteria been one of the most important fish in the history of mankind, as Kurlansky (1997) has eloquently explained, continues to be one of the foremost marine food resources, both as fresh or frozen fish and in the form of bacalao (dried and salted cod, see salt cod) and stockfish (dried cod). The American (New England) term ‘scrod’, the origin of which has been the subject of various explanations, is applied to small specimens (under 50 cm/20") of cod or haddock. Although an (unconvincing) explanation of the origin of this term is cited by Davidson (1979) and a more plausible one by Mariani (1994) it is best left as ‘[origin obscure]’ which is how Craigie and Hulbert (1938) put it.
