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Cod
Collapse
In 1497 the English explorer John Cabot
sailed through the waters off the coast of Newfoundland
and was astounded at the incredible number of cod which
surrounded his ship the Mathew. They had only to lower
baskets into the ocean and let them fill with fish and
retrieve a large catch. It was suspected that English
fishermen may have already been fishing this area now
known as the Grand Banks. Many other countries, such as
France, Spain and Portugal, joined in the fishing banks
for the summer seasons and established summer bases to
salt and process the fish.
The Northern Cod were
so plentiful that until the late 50's over 250,000 tons
was caught on an annual basis. The Canadian fishing
industry would traditionally fish just off the coast in
smaller vessels using traditional methods such as
jigging from a dory or small inshore gill nets. In the
late 50's the arrival of large factory ships from other
countries hailed the first onslaught to the finely
balanced renewable cod fishery. These factory trawlers
were huge ships which would use enormous haul nets to
capture large number of cod, flatfish, haddock, herring
and many other fish. They came from England, the U.S.,
the Soviet Union, East and West Germany. Spain,
Portugal, Poland and some Asia nations such as Japan and
Korea.
The process would
allow them to lay out their nets, from the stern of
their ships, haul them in and then process the catch on
the ship by gutting, cleaning and freezing the fish.
With the arrival of these foreign fleets and the huge
increase in their ability to net the fish, the
annual catch, in 1968 increased to over 800,000 tons. At
this level the cod were not able to renew their numbers
and the available cod began to decline so that by 1975
the annual catch had declined to 300,000 tonnes. The
U.S. and Canada took action in 1976 by extending their
marine jurisdiction to 200 nautical miles which
effectively pushed the foreign factory ships off many of
the prime fishing and breeding grounds. The catches
continued to decline for a few more years and bottomed
out at 139,000 tonnes in 1978. If the fishery were
maintained at this level then the recovery and health of
the cod may have occurred but at this point Canadian
factory ships were replacing the banished foreign ones
and by 1984 were hauling in 250,000 tonnes which did not
allow it to recover.
The fishing technology had also taken
another destructive leap in catch power by with
deployment and use draggers. These ships dropped huge
nets that were dragged along the bottom of the ocean
which caught everything in its path and destroyed the
underlying eco-system in the process. Fish, young fish,
other sea life and the food source for the cod were all
being destroyed in order to keep the catch rate on the
rise. The entire eco-system was upset and destabilized.
Much of the cod that was caught were spawning fish and
hence the reproductive cycle was also disrupted.
The impact of this
highly destructive path was pointed out by the local
inshore fishermen who were alerted to the drastic drop
in the normal patterns of the cod and the shrinkage in
their overall numbers. It was only in 1986 that the
scientists analysis of the cod caught up with what the
local fishing industry had been saying and they
recommended in 1988 that the allowable catch be cut in
half. The government of the day put off any real action
until 1992 when the Federal Minister of Fisheries and
Oceans was forced to impose a ban on fishing the
Northern cod. The cod fishery had completely collapsed
and by 1995 it was estimated that the entire cod
bio-mass had declined to around 1,700 tonnes form an
annual yearly catch in the mid 50's of 250,000 tonnes.
For over 400 years the
cod fishery had been one of the richest in the world and
by 1992 it had been almost completely eliminated. The
Department of Fisheries estimated that even if the stock
began and immediate recovery with no pressure from
fisheries, it would take at least 15 years before any
fishing could begin again. Over 42,000 people in the
fishing industry were put out of work. This spelt the
end of many smaller communities in Newfoundland that had
been dependant on the fisheries. These people looked to
Ottawa for relief and not only for a few years but for
the foreseeable future
In hindsight a large
part of the blame for the collapse of the cod fishery
must be aid at the feet of the Federal Government which
became caught up in the expansion of the fishery once
the 200 mile limit was imposed and believed that
Canadian companies could now expand its operations
massively. One yields began to decline the government
should have taken immediate, conservation action rather
then adopting a wait and see attitude. This was an
example of how government support of corporate profit
acquisition, regardless of the negative impact upon the
citizens, resulted in a devastating outcome for the
fisheries in the Atlantic.
The Canadian
government had been continually warned by all of the
stakeholders except the large corporations that the
fishery was in danger and had refused to take action.
The fishery is now gone and may never be able to
recover. A lifestyle, a source of earning a living, a
major food source and an important piece of Canadian
history are g=one and only time will tell if it can make
a comeback. |
