As you read this, tom cod are pushing through mud-dark water and gathering in the thousands at the head of the Minas Basin. They are driven blindly through the churning turbid water of the world’s highest tides by some ancient memory we can only understand by contemplating the moments we’ve felt instinct grab hold of our own bones. Waiting for them six days a week in an open aluminum boat are Darren Porter and daughter Erica. They’ll be there hauling and downloading the data from receivers, tagging fish and checking for signs of failed struggle until the ice chokes them off the water in January. “When you’ve spent enough time here you start becoming part of the ecosystem,” said Porter.