A Blind Cod?  Can you think of anything sadder?  Almost sounds like the name of some sort of alternative rock band, doesn't it?  No - it's actually a heartwarming story of a solitary, handicapped fish, battling against nature to survive, who crosses paths with a kind-hearted Norwegian fisherman.  Together, their lives are transformed.  OK, maybe "transformed" is a bit extreme, but it sure is a heart-warming tale.  Call me sappy ("you're sappy!") but this story sure got to me.  I suppose I suffer from "excessive cod-sympathy syndrome (ECSS)."

There are actually three press releases about the blind cod (so far):

Soft-Hearted Fisherman Frees Confused Cod
Updated 8:17 AM ET January 27, 2001

OSLO (Reuters) - A blind cod has swum into the same net about 35 times in a Norwegian fjord and is only alive because a soft-hearted fisherman frees him each time.  "He's too thin to eat and he's in bad condition," 69-year-old Harald Hauso told Reuters on Friday. "And I feel a bit sorry for him."

The cod, blind in both eyes and weighing between 4.4 and 6.6 pounds, first swam into Hauso's hooped nets in March last year and has been back almost every week. The nets attract tiny crabs and starfish, on which the cod feeds.

"He's found out that it's an easy place to find food. And he knows I let him go every time. Also, maybe he feels safe because the net protects him," Hauso said.

He said a marine park from nearby Aalesund offered on Friday to let the fish retire in the safety of its aquarium. "I've said 'yes' to the offer. It'll be a good place for him to be a pensioner," he said.

Blind Cod, Netted 40 Times, Retires to Aquarium
 Updated 8:21 AM ET February 8, 2001
OSLO (Reuters) - A blind cod was caught off Norway for the 40th and final time Wednesday by a kind-hearted Norwegian fisherman who sent him to retire in a private pool in an aquarium.

"I caught him this morning. He was taken off in a tank in a van with his very own oxygen supply," Harald Hauso, 69, told Reuters after catching the scrawny fish in Hardanger fjord, west Norway.

"I hope he survives -- he looked a bit travel sick," he added.

The cod, which first blundered into Hauso's nets last March, has been back almost every week, believed to be attracted by the smell of the nylon.

Hauso said he repeatedly freed the fish, weighing 2-3 kg (4.4-6.6 lbs) and blind in both eyes, because it was too thin to eat.

The cod is to share a private pool at a marine park in Aalesund, about 300 km (190 miles) north of Hardanger, with a short-sighted halibut known as "Big Mama."

"I'll take a trip to visit him there if he survives," Hauso said.

Blind Cod Clings to Life, Cheating Death 40 Times
 Updated 9:42 AM ET February 9, 2001

OSLO (Reuters) - A blind cod was clinging to life on Friday after surviving a critical medical operation and 40 nettings by a Norwegian fisherman.

The celebrity fish was caught off Norway for the 40th and final time Wednesday by Harald Hauso, 69, who gave up the chase and sent it to retire in a private pool in a marine park in Aalesund.

Almost entirely blind in both eyes and weighing a meager 4-6 lbs., it was touch and go whether it would survive the 190-mile journey north from the Hardanger fjord where it was caught.

The cod had to undergo an emergency operation to remove gas which built up inside its body because of its repeated capture. "He had too much gas inside, so we put the needle inside and took the gas out," Jan Einarsen, director at Aalesund's Atlantic Sea Park, told Reuters.

He said the cod -- nicknamed Balder after a handsome god in Norwegian mythology -- was also stressed after being trapped and released so many times.

Einarsen said his biggest concern was the fish's loss of appetite, despite being tempted by squid, shrimp, herring and mussels.

The cod first blundered into Hauso's nets last March and returned almost every week, apparently attracted by the smell of the nylon. Hauso repeatedly freed the scrawny fish because it was too thin to eat and he felt sorry for it.

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