A Heroes Welcome for the Tom Cods!!!

This came to me hot off the press anonymously........

A Heroes Welcome for the Tom Cods

During a recent press conference in Ottawa, Prime Minister Harper spoke sternly when he was responded “...when they arrive, we’ll be ready for them”. Was it an invasion of the body snatchers he was referring too? Was it fresh seal pelts from off the Labrador coast? No, it was those versatile Tom Cods who have made their way through unchartered waters, out of their spawning grounds on the way to Ottawa.

He continued and as he looked at the Commander In Chief of the Canadian Army, joked saying that “no longer do they have to fear trap or gill nets, Norwegian jiggers, skillets and deep frying fat”. We’ll welcome them with open arms. Both predicted their estimated time of arrival will be in Mid March, 2008.

How did they get so far without being scooped up by a deep sea trawler? To answer that CBC had to dig back in the early seventies and consult with retired Memorial University Professor, Dr. Kjell Nyborg. At that time Dr. Nyborg was a visiting Professor from Norway who taught Geography 3320, Land and Sea in The North, North Atlantic. He remembers Greg Noonan(Captain of The Tom Cods) who he describes as a very keen student who was fascinated with the ocean bottom. “He would spend hours analyzing the ocean floor graphing contours and the like...” He recalls one episode when he went missing for a 3 week period. His classmates thought he was at Big Bens, The Strand or Breeze way Bar. Dr. Nyborg replied that he was hid away in the bowels of the Temporary Buildings studying and analyzing the ocean bottom. Its no surprise to anyone how he’s leading his school of Tom Cods, against all odds, all the way to Ottawa.

Other students in his school deserve recognition. Noonan stated that its well known that Mike Benoit met Jill on the wharf in Burgeo...Mike was attracted to the fact that Jill, after catching her share of Connors and Sculpins, would release Tom Cods so that they would grow and develop. “Watching her release them would bring a tear in my eye”, he said.


General Rick Hillier guaranteed Naval Escort through the Great Lakes. He was quoted, “they made it so far, they’ll be protected the rest of the way”. Going back to his childhood, General Hillier vividly recalls catch and release programs introduced in Campbellton back in the late sixties. “We would spend each Saturday having fun along the sea shore. Barbless hooks would be used when hooking Tom Cods.

Through it all, Noonan shrugs off any credit for taking the Tom Cods so far. He says it simply team dynamics. “Our school consists of members spread over the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. We have members from Eastern , Central, Southern, Western Newfoundland and along the Labrador coast. All bases are covered. With such a diverse group, maneuvering to Ottawa should not present a concern.”


Anonymous