In the 1950s and 1960s additional off shore fishing grounds east of Newfoundland were discovered, which increased annual landings [1]. In 1910, with gradual improvements of technology catches reached about 300,000 tons. By 1968, over 800,000 tons were reported accounting for 40% of global fish landings. In 1971, an armada of 900 large factory trawlers were at the fishing grounds and annual harvests during this time period often removed 60% of adult cod [2].
Downward trends prior to 1980 were due primarily to economic downturns. High landing values from 1978-1990 were due to increased fishing effort by domestic fleets due to encouragement by government subsidy programs. The peak in the early 1980s is due to strong year classes of cod, spawned in 1975 and 1978. Declines since 1990 are believed to be through overfishing [3].
In the early 1960s, the northern cod stock was estimated at almost 2 billion spawning individuals. The population represented 75-80% of Canada’s entire stock. Since that time, the number of cod 5 years and older have declined by 97% [4].
In May of 2003, the Canadian fisheries ministry ordered an end to all Atlantic Cod fishing in three regions off the Newfoundland and Labrador coast. In the same year, Newfoundland and Labrador Atlantic cod populations were declared “endangered”. Atlantic cod is now listed as vulnerable by the IUCN (The International Union for Conservation of Nature) [5].
Reference
- Tipton, C. A. (1994-1995) Protecting Tomorrows Harvest: Developing a National System of Individual Transferable Quotas to Conserve Ocean Resources. Environmental Law Journal. 381.
- Koslow, J. A. Boehlert, G. W. Gordon, D. M. Haedrich, R. L. Lorance, P. and Parin, N. (2000) ICES Journal of Marine Science. 57: 548-557.
- ICES (1994) Fishery and Environmental Factors Affecting Trends and Fluctuations in the Georges Bank and Gulf of Maine Atlantic Cod Stocks: An Overview. ICES. [Online].
- Hutchings, J. A. and Reynolds, J. D. (2004) Marine Fish Population Collapses Consequences for Recovery and Extinction Risk. Bioscience. 54 (4) : 297-309.
- CWF (2010) The Cod Conundrum. [Online].