Honestly, back in 2000 I did know either. But it definitely sounds like a fish, and fish it is! Micromesistius poutassou in Latin, kolmule in Norwegian, mustakitaturska in Finnish. Blue whiting is a small gadoid fish that is abundant in the north Atlantic. It is rather tasty but smallish and with a bit soft flesh, hence it is mostly processed into fishmeal. In later years it has been the largest fishery in the Atlantic (in terms of catch weight, not value).

See what FishBase knows about blue whiting!