The Cod Rush

European fisherman were fishing off the coast of Newfoundland at the end of fifteen century. The news brought by Cabot, of the abundance of cod, spread through Europe like a wildfire. At that time, the cod fisheries were controlled mainly by the English and the French. Cod was popular, good tasting and easy to preserve. Cod liver was squeezed out to collect the healthy cod-liver oil.

                Dry fishing was off the coast and the harvest was mainly for local use when the fishing colonies were established around the 17th and 18th century, while green fishing took place at sea.

                Hostilities grew between the English and French due to the right of fishing grounds. At the treaty of Urecht in 1713 and the treaty of Parish in 1763, France was left with only two fishing grounds, while the Engllish controlled the rest. Yet, the cod fisheries stayed profitable for both countries.

                During the 19th and 20th centuries, Atlantic Canada became popular for fishing operations of other countries. Better technology, like better nets caused Canadian fishing operations to stay on top of the industry. This led to over-fishing, which caused a drop in fishing stock.

                In 1970, the United Nations came to an agreement with coastal countries to stay out of Canada’s 200-mile fishing limit. Eventually, in 1920, cod fishing off Canada’s Atlantic coast was banned, since no mature cod was found in the waters around the Maritime.

                In September, 2007, decisions were made by the North-West Atlantic Fisheries Organization to recover cod off Newfoundland and Labrador, by reducing the by-catch to 40%. Current cod stocks are at a 6% low of historical abundance, noted earlier.

                Canada had been noted for the leadership taken to protect cod.