Burbot
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| Lota lota Linnaeus, 1758 |
The burbot (Lota lota) is a freshwater fish related to the cods. It is also known as the lawyer, and eelpout, and closely related to the ling and the cusk. It is most common in streams and lakes of North America and Europe above 40°N latitude. They are fairly common in Lake Erie.
Burbot are the only freshwater fish that spawn in the winter, usually in late January.
In Britain, the burbot is possibly an extinct fish as it is believed that there have been no documented catches of the species since the 1970s [1]. If the burbot does still survive in the UK, the counties of Cambridgeshire and Yorkshire (particularly the River Derwent or River Ouse) seem to be the strongest candidates for areas in which the species might yet continue to survive [2]. There have been plans to re-introduce this freshwater member of the cod family back into British waters but these have yet to come to fruition.
In the 1920s, Minnesota druggist Theodore H. Rowell and his father Joseph Rowell, a commercial fisherman on Lake of the Woods, were using the burbot as feed for the foxes Joe’s blue fox farm. They discovered that the burbot contained something that improved the quality of the fox’s furs; this was confirmed by the fur buyers who commented that these furs were superior to other furs they were seeing. Ted felt it was something in the burbot, so he extracted some oil and sent it away to be assayed. The result of the assay was that the liver of the burbot is 3-4 times more potent in vitamin D, and 4 – 10 times more potent in vitamin A than “good grades” of cod liver oil. The vitamin content varies in Burbot from lake to lake, where their diet may have some variation. Additionally, the burbot liver makes up approximately 10% of the fish's total body weight, and their liver is 6x larger than freshwater fish of comparable size. Ted also found in his research that the oil is lower in viscosity, and more rapidly digested and assimilated than most other fish liver oils. Ted went on to found the Burbot Liver Products Company which later became Rowell Laboratories, Inc. of Baudette, Minnesota, and is today a subsidary of Solvay Pharmaceuticals of Brussels Belgium.
Burbot are fair to good eating (recommended use is boiling), but rarely used as food, as most fishermen are put off by their "eely" appearance. The town of Walker, Minnesota holds an International Eel Pout Festival every winter on Leech Lake. In Finland, its roe is sold as caviar.
The genus and species name "lota" comes from "la lotte," the old French word for "codfish." The Inuktitut word for burbot was used to name the extinct species Tiktaalik.
[edit] References
- Lota lota (TSN 164725). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Accessed on 24 January 2006.
- "Lota lota". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. 10 2005 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2005.
- Experts to discuss reintroduction of Burbot to UK, Matt Clarke, Practical Fishkeeping magazine
- BBC Radio Programme - 13th March 2005
- Lota Lota
- "Two Men... and A Fish: The Story of Rowell Laboratories by Jenny Morman, copyright 1986".
- "Vitamins from Our Own Fish". Scientific American April 1939: 215.
