Lessons from the cod fisheries collapse

When I arrived in the town of Grand Bank in 1963 after a 230-mile taxi ride from St Johns, Newfoundland, for a summer engineering job, the cod industry dominated the town; there was no mention of depleting cod stocks. Cod had provided a living for Newfoundlanders for 500 years and there was no reason to suspect they would disappear. Michael Harris’s 1999 book “Lament for an ocean”, describes what can happen when a resource is exploited beyond what it can deliver.

While the less important haddock stock had already disappeared, it was not until 1985 when shore-based Newfoundland fishermen started to notice the loss of large cod from their catches. The solution selected was to impose a 200-mile limit to prevent foreign boats fishing in Canadian territorial waters. This measure did not sort the problem. Each action to limit the fishery revealed further activities bearing down on the cod population.

Foreign boats were catching large quantities of plankton eating caplin for use as fish meal, reducing a major cod feedstock.  Canadian boats were using small illegal mesh inserts in their trawls, to maintain catches of the reduced size of cod. Below size, undeclared caught cod were dumped overboard, their swim bladders burst during their rise to the surface. Total Allowable Catches (TACs) recommended by fish scientists were constantly exceeded by Government, from pressure by fishermen, their trade unions and politicians.

The Canadian Government attempted to provide temporary unemployment benefits, to tide the population over until fish stocks recovered. Fishermen with mortgages on their boats struggled to maintain their payments. As time passed, with catches declining each year, the Government realised that they needed to shrink the fishing capacity, while modernising the fleet. Larger boats with refrigeration units, delivered better quality fish which sold at a better price. The smaller, shore-based boats were disadvantaged by the available grants. Yet still the catch shrunk.

With the fall in cod populations, shellfish near of the base of the food chain, normally consumed by fish, increased. Crab, lobster and shellfish boats catches rose, increasing their income. This bonanza was at the expense of the continually depleting fish stocks. The fishery was transforming from catching fish at the top of the food chain to a fishery for shellfish.

During the period 1985 to 2000, the fishery scientists were continually trying to model the impact of fishing in international waters, within the 200-mile limit, and the shellfish take. Changes in currents, water temperatures, and climate were all ruled out as a cause of the cod collapse. It was pure overfishing.

One change that was observed was that the annual migrations were altering. It was hypothesised that the reduced number of larger, older cod, with the experience of past migrations, were insufficient in number to lead the migrations, evolved over time to maximise the cod population.

Since Harris’s book was published, fish stocks today have still not recovered and may never do so. We should learn not exceed what the planet and its riches can provide. Our increased technology, ever increasing population, greed, and incomplete understanding of biological systems, makes it ever more likely that we will destroy the planet’s bounty. We truly must tread lightly on the earth.

Bob Pringle

Bobpringle080@gmail.com

25/06/25