Northern Cod Fishery Research Articles

Gone to shell: Removal of a million tonnes of snow crab since cod moratorium in the Newfoundland and Labrador fishery

Snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) replaced northern cod (Gadus morhua) as the primary social and employment fishery in Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) during the 1990s. For nearly three decades snow crab has supported thousands of fishing enterprises and enabled the NL fishery to prosper to unprecedented economic status. Following a growth phase in the early 1990s, and despite gradually declining for two decades, the snow crab resource remained relatively strong until recent years. Since 2012, there have been repeated warnings given about an imminent large decline in the NL snow crab resource, which has now come to fruition throughout the stock range. A 2014 review of factors associated with the decline concluded that temperature had been the over-arching factor contributing to dampened recruitment, but warned that top-down fishing control was likely to become dominant if harvest levels did not sufficiently adjust to the forthcoming decline. Recent stock assessments have found the stock biomass to be at historically measured lows and highlighted a major biological concern of broad-scale reductions in size-at-maturity associated with recent cooling and fishing exploitation rates that have elevated to be at or near historical highs throughout the stock range. In this article, we provide colourful perspectives on the history of the NL fishery and the current state of the NL snow crab resource, highlighting commonalities associated with the collapse of the historically dominant northern cod fishery and the present-day situation with snow crab. The article is intended to fit within the context of a broader journal theme edition featuring investigations into factors affecting the NL snow crab resource.

Gear sustainability assessment of the Newfoundland inshore northern cod fishery

From an ocean-basin collapse to a limited reopening, the Newfoundland northern cod fishery is challenged by ecological and economic sustainability. Pivotal factors influencing resource sustainability involve the use of gillnets as the main fishing method and the perception of cod as a low value commodity. Considering gillnetting and two other methods used in this fishery, hand-lines and Newfoundland cod pots, we identified and assessed strengths and weaknesses of each as a basis for best practices management decisions. This assessment involved multi-criteria evaluations based on “ideal gear properties” (International Council for the Exploration of the Sea) adapted to incorporate criteria specific to this fishery. An index scoring system involving 20 ecological, economic and social criteria was developed and used to assess the three gears. Catch-related data collected onboard commercial fishing vessels and structured interviews on economic and social criteria assessments with fishers were collected. Literature reviews supplemented these data.Hand-lining scored the best results on each of the three criteria, with significant advantages (minimal ecosystem impacts; economic and social incentives for an adaptive accessible fishery). Newfoundland cod pots had the second most sustainable results (benefits for cod population, interesting work conditions). Though this gear had economic disadvantages, Newfoundland cod pots ensure best catches for a quality-based fishery. Despite being the fishing gear most commonly used, bottom-set gillnets are the least sustainable method. Catch-related advantages (efficiency, size selectivity) are not adapted to a new quality-based fishery. Restriction of gillnet fishing and promotion of complementary hand-lining and pot fishing would support a best practices more sustainable approach.

Cod Today and None Tomorrow: The Economic Value of a Marine Reserve

Abstract Using data from what was once one of the world’s largest capture fisheries, the northern cod fishery, the economic value of a marine reserve is calculated using a stochastic optimal control model with a jump-diffusion process. Counterfactual analysis shows that with a stochastic environment an optimal-sized marine reserve in this fishery would have prevented the fishery’s collapse and generated a triple payoff: raising resource rents even if harvesting was “optimal”; decreasing recovery time for the biomass to return to its former state, smoothing fishers’ harvests and resource rents; and lowering the chance of a catastrophic collapse following a negative shock. (JEL Q22, Q57)

Retraining Programs for Displaced Workers in the Post-Industrial Era: An exploration of government policies and programs in Canada and England

Widespread worker displacement is an increasing phenomenon in industrialized countries. Whether the result of globalization, increased technology or resource depletion, large numbers of people are being permanently displaced from work. The problem is more severe in regions where the unemployment base centres on a single industry or resource. In such areas there is often little chance of re-employment. This paper considers government-initiated programs developed in response to widespread worker displacement. It does so within the context of my doctoral dissertation research, which is nearing fieldwork completion. The paper introduces the problem of widespread worker displacement. It considers two government programs developed to address need resulting from the closure of the Northern Cod fishery on Canada's Atlantic coast and the decline of the mining industry in England. The paper then discusses post-industrialism and post-Fordism as a framework through which to view the problem.

GIS and aquaculture: Assessment of soft-shell clam sites

The 1992 collapse of the northern cod fishery at Newfoundland, Canada and the subsequent closure of a majority of the inshore ground fishery has placed a focus on the development of aquaculture within the province. In May 1995 Innovative Fisheries Inc. of St. John's, Newfoundland, conducted field studies to evaluate the soft-shell clam (edible bivalve molluscs) resources on three sand flats near Burgeo, Newfoundland. GIS can be used to examine issues regarding the development and management of the soft-shell clam beds. GIS can also be applied to examine the issue of ‘competing uses’ for the proposed soft-shell clam aquaculture site. The information presented in this study indicates that GIS is an important tool for the aquaculture industry. These systems can be used to monitor, quantify and evaluate the soft-shell beds near Burgeo. Management issues such as water quality, resource sustainability as well as the economic viability of the clam resource can be assessed within a GIS environment. The results of the analysis in this study suggest potential problems with faecal coliform contamination from local cottages. Finally, data collection for aquaculture site assessment is required if a resource is to be managed effectively. GIS applications provide insights into the quality of the physical environment as well as the sustainability of a resource. However, it is the aquaculture operators who ultimately make the final decisions.

How to Improve the Management of Renewable Resources: The Case of Canada's Northern Cod Fishery

AbstractThe paper examines howan easy‐to‐apply optimal feedback rule can be used to solve for optimal levels of exploitation of a renewable resource. Using data from Canada's northern cod fishery, the optimal feedback rule is used to derive optimal levels of exploitation for the years 1962–91 under different discount rates, alternative model specifications, and parameter assumptions. The optimal feedback rule indicates that over much of the period the fishery was economically overexploited and, given the stock development that actually took place, a harvesting moratorium should have been instituted three years earlier than when it was introduced. The results show how the use of a simple and flexible optimal rule by managers of renewable resources can generate substantial gains.

Bay‐scale population structure in coastal Atlantic cod in Labrador and Newfoundland, Canada

Polymorphisms at five microsatellite DNA loci provide evidence that Atlantic cod Gadus morhua inhabiting Gilbert Bay, Labrador are genetically distinguishable from offshore cod on the north‐east Newfoundland shelf and from inshore cod in Trinity Bay, Newfoundland. Antifreeze activity in the blood suggests that Gilbert Bay cod overwinter within the Bay. Gilbert Bay cod are also smaller (weight and length) for their age and consequently less fecund for their age, than cod elsewhere within the northern cod complex. The productivity and recruitment potential of coastal cod off Labrador may thus be much lower than that of offshore northern cod or of inshore cod farther south, implying that a more conservative management strategy may be required for cod from coastal Labrador than traditionally practised for northern cod inhabiting less harsh environments. Relatively high FST and RST measures of population structure suggest that important barriers to gene flow exist among five components that include two inshore (Gilbert and Trinity Bay) and three offshore cod aggregations on the north‐east Newfoundland Shelf and the Grand Bank. DA and DSW estimates of genetic distance that involve Gilbert Bay cod are approximately three‐ and 10–fold larger, respectively, than estimates not involving Gilbert Bay cod. The differences between inshore cod from Gilbert Bay and Trinity Bay raise the possibility that other genetically distinguishable coastal populations may exist, or may have existed prior to the northern cod fishery collapse. Harvesting strategies for northern cod should recognize the existence of genetic diversity between inshore and offshore components as well as among coastal components.

Fisheries management in the Grand Banks, 1980–1992 and the straddling stock issue

This paper examines fisheries management problems on the Grand Banks that were due to divided jurisdiction between Canada's 200 mile Fisheries Zone and the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization's (NAFO) area outside this zone, which brought to the fore the predicaments associated with straddling stocks. These were epitomized by the northern cod fishery. Because Canadian scientists overestimated the stocks, northern cod became the basis of a growth industry for Canada and for considerable fishing activity in the NAFO zone by vessels from NAFO member and non-member countries during the 1980s. From 1985 onwards, straddling stocks became a contentious issue between Canada and NAFO with respect to management measures and their enforcement. This issue became particularly acute towards the end of the 1980s when the overestimation of the northern cod stock became apparent, leading to a reduction in the TACs for this species and to Canada's closure of this fishery in 1992. This had severe economic implications for Canada's Atlantic Coast fishing industry but resulted in the international acceptance of a new UN Convention for Straddling Stocks and Highly Migratory Species in 1995.

Saturn A Framework For Integrated Analysis In Fisheries Management

AbstractThis paper presents a model in support of management decision making and planning in commercial fisheries. The purpose of the model is to facilitate integration of biological (e.g., stock assessment) and socioeconomic considerations for the review and evaluation of quantitative impacts of alternative management strategies. The spreadsheet model shell allows ease of use and flexibility in exploring and evaluating interannual effects of change on the fish stock, or the viability of prosecuting gears, and the processing sector. The deterministic model is divided into linked modules that facilitate exploratory analysis. Linkages occur in a “top-down” manner, whereby each stage of the analysis decomposes a macro view of the fishery over an annual long-term planning period down to a micro view of the stock or of individual operator performance on a monthly basis over a single season. Illustrative case studies, based on the 2J3KL Northern cod fishery and the 4WX herring fishery, demonstrate the flexibili...

The Atlantic Canada Resource Management Catastrophe: A Predator-Prey consideration

As the northern cod fishery constitutes the most important fishery of the Canadian Atlantic coast, I shall focus my discussion on it. Many important factors contributing to the failure of the northern cod fishery have been identified. For example, the Report of the Task Force on Income and Adjustment in the Atlantic Fishery chaired by Richard Cashin (1993) gives half a dozen reasons for the collapse of the northern cod stock. They are (1) overly high Total Allowable Catch (TAC) levels due to over-optimistic scientific projections, inadequate understanding of the stock dynamics and inaccurate data on commercial fishing activity; (2) underreporting of catches and misleading data for management; (3) destructive fishing practices such as highgrading, discarding and dumping; (4) foreign overfishing on the Nose and Tail of the Grand Banks; (5) failure to control expansion of fishing effort due to the demands of a processing sector with excess capacity and failure to minimize the adverse impact of various fishing gear technologies; and (6) unforeseen ecological changes, including cooling water temperature since the mid-1980s, changes in water salinity, and shifting predator-prey relationships, particularly among seals, capelin and cod. I shall concentrate my discussion on the predator-prey consideration. In doing so, I do not mean to suggest that the seal is the only main culprit. Far from it, I agree that it is a combination of the above factors that caused the current crisis. Given the limitation of my presentation, I could only consider a small piece of the puzzle. Obviously, seal and cod have coexisted and been harvested for centuries. Why should it be an issue now? Even the biologists cannot determine for certain whether or not the seal is a direct predator of cod. However, the matter must be understood in the context of a broader predator-prey relationship involving seal, cod, capelin and perhaps other species. The problem of uncertainty that Gordon Munro alluded to in his introduction in the Calgary meeting may also be attributed to imperfect knowledge about the ecological system. After examining some data, I am convinced that the collapse of the northern cod stock is, in part, due to a

Climate, copepods and cod: some thoughts on the long-range prospects for a sustainable northern cod fishery

Climate, copepods and cod: some thoughts on the long-range prospects for a sustainable northern cod fishery