In the United States cod fish are not only a favourite dish, they are big business. The tasty cod come from way up the north east but they are ordered on the tables all over the States. Meeting the public demand once posed a great problem for the fishermen.First they froze the cod and shipped them elsewhere but the freezing took away a lot of the flavour. Then they experimented shipping them alive in great tanks of sea water, but that was worse. Not only was it more expensive, but the fish lost its flavour and in addition to these safe shallow tanks the fish became soft and mushy.
Finally someone solved the problem in a creative manner. The cod fish were placed in the tank of water along with their natural enemy the catfish. So from the time the fish left the east coast until it arrived in its western most destination those horrible catfish chased the cod all over the tank and you guessed it - when the cod arrived at the market and the meal table they were as fresh as when they were first caught.
Got any catfish swimming around in your tank? Maybe you live with one of them, or it is somebody at work whose irritating presence drives you to despair, or to your knees. Every community has a few catfish lurking around. We don’t always warm to them but they can keep all the others from getting soft and mushy.
You see, it is the difficulties and the discouragement, the tension in the tank that helps develop our character.
Source: From one of Chuck Swindoll’s books.
Image: One member of the catfish clan.