The Grand Banks of Newfoundland

The Grand Banks are a group of shallow underwater plateaus off south-east Newfoundland, where the cold Labrador Current meets the warm Gulf Stream. The mix of shallow water and nutrients made them one of the richest fishing grounds in the world. European fishers came for their cod from at least the early 1500s, and for nearly five centuries the cod seemed endless.

The cod collapse

After the Second World War, large factory trawlers from many countries began fishing the banks, and catches of northern cod peaked in the late 1960s. Canada extended its fishing zone to 200 nautical miles in 1977, but its own fleet grew and scientists overestimated the stock. By the early 1990s the cod had almost vanished. On 2 July 1992 Canada closed the northern cod fishery, putting tens of thousands of people out of work in Newfoundland.

Slow recovery

The cod did not bounce back as expected. Some scientists think the food web changed once the cod were gone: snow crab and shrimp boomed, while capelin, the cod's main food, crashed in the early 1990s and stayed low. Numbers have risen since the mid-2000s, and in 2024 Canada reopened a commercial northern cod fishery with a limited catch, a decision some scientists questioned. The collapse is the best-known example of overfishing worldwide.

Still to be written: Atlantic cod, Capelin, Greenland halibut, American plaice, Yellowtail flounder.