Collapse of the Atlantic northwest cod fishery

In 1992, Northern cod populations fell to 1% of historic levels, in large part from decades of overfishing. The Canadian federal minister of fisheries and oceans, John Crosbie, declared a moratorium on the Northern Cod fishery, which had primarily shaped the lives and communities of Canada's eastern coast for 500 years. A significant factor contributing to the depletion of the cod stocks off Newfoundland's shores was the introduction of equipment and technology that increased landed fish volume. From the 1950s onwards, new technology allowed fishers to trawl a larger area more deeply and for longer, with the catches peaking in the 1970s and 1980s. Cod stocks were depleted at a faster rate than could be replenished.

The trawlers also caught enormous amounts of non-commercial fish, which were economically unimportant but very important ecologically. The incidental catch undermined the stability of the ecosystem by depleting stocks of important predator and prey species.

Technological factors

A significant factor contributing to the depletion of the cod stocks off the shores of Newfoundland included the introduction and proliferation of equipment and technology that increased the volume of landed fish. For centuries, local fishers had used technology that limited the volume of their catch and the area that they fished. It also let them target specific species and ages of fish.