Fisheries Management Fa 08
Environmental Economics Fa 08 | DDT Fa 08 | Trade and the Environment Fa 08 | Local Water Quality Fa 08 | Agriculture in Cumberland Co Fa 08 | LEED, Efficiency Standards, and Risk Fa 08 | Fisheries Management Fa 08 | Food and Pesticides Fa 08
Fishery Management
== Case Study: Overfishing of the Grand Banks ==
Background Information
The Grand Banks are located on the North American Continental Shelf just off the coast of Newfoundland. The Banks are actually hundreds of underwater plateaus which range in depth from around 80 feet to around 300 feet, making it a relatively shallow area. The cold Labrador Current mixes with the warm Gulf Stream bringing nutrients to the surface and creating an incredibly productive and diverse ecosystem. Marine life abounds on the plateau floors, in the water column, as well as near to the surface. The roughly 280,000 km the Grand Banks covers is a vital feeding, spawning, and nursing area for many shellfish and fish species. These species include: Atlantic cod, haddock, capelin, Atlantic halibut, redfish (ocean perch), Greenland halibut (turbot), yellowtail and witch flounder, American plaice, crab, shrimp and scallop. The area also supports large colonies of sea birds and various sea mammals such as seals, dolphins and whales.
History of the Grand Banks
Early European Explorers recorded that the waters were so rich with fish that you could lower a basket into the water and bring it up full of cod. From this point on thousands of people turned to Newfoundland in hopes of reaping the benefits of these rich waters. Small inshore boats took sustainable amounts of cod for centuries up to the 1950s. All of this changed for the worse as more and more people came in the 1950s. Due to technological advances in trawler design and power on the factory whaling ships, the last remaining whale populations were devastated as a result. With huge nets these trawlers could haul up seemingly endless quantities of fish. They were able to quickly process and deep-freeze the catch allowing them to work even faster than desired. It got to a point that in an hour, they can haul up as much as 200 tons of fish, Nearly double the amount as a typical 16th century ship would have caught in an entire season.
The cod catch steadily increased to 800,000 tons in 1968, which was the peak of the unsustainable catches. By 1975 the annual catch had fallen by more than 60 percent and has continued to drop ever since. Catches of other fish have fallen as a result of this over fishing. This decline eventually forced Canada to extend its fishing limit for foreign vessels from 12 miles to 200 miles from its coast.
Collapse of the Cod Fishery
works Consulted
1. The Downturn of the Atlantic Cod (Gadus morhua) in Eastern Canada What is happening to these fish, and why? by Debbie MacKenzie, November, 2002
2. Watkins, Thayer: The Collapse of the Cod Fishery of the Grand Banks, San Jose University Department of Economics, 2008
