Cod fishing is back in Newfoundland

From the article:

In June, Fisheries and Oceans Canada upgraded the cod stock’s status from “critical” to “healthy” and simultaneously increased the commercial quota for cod by 55 percent, to 59,000 tonnes a year.

Newfoundlanders say the move has left them hopeful, but also trepidatious after the devastating experience of a 32-year moratorium.

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In 1992, Ottawa announced a wholesale moratorium on Northern cod following decades of overfishing.

The move led to around 30,000 job losses almost overnight — the largest layoff in Canadian history.

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Entire communities were abandoned, and Newfoundland came to serve as a global warning of the consequences of fishery mismanagement.

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Ultimately, it took until 2024 for Fisheries and Oceans Canada to end the moratorium. The department’s June announcement now bumps its quota up even further.

But the quota still reflects the government’s caution.

Harvesters are currently taking out about five to seven per cent of the annual stock, says Tyler Eddy, a research scientist at Memorial University’s Marine Institute in St. John’s.

This is actually well below the globally-recognized standard for sustainable fishing, of about 20 per cent, he says. This year’s total allowable catch of 59,000 tonnes also pales in comparison to the 266,000 limit in 1988.

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He is not alone. After the cod moratorium was imposed, snow crab became a mainstay of the industry. In 2025, snow crab sales in the province were $708 million, versus just $62 million for Northern cod.

But as Newfoundland’s waters warm due to climate change, researchers believe the prized snow crab will migrate north, making cod’s comeback well-timed.

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While cod is less lucrative than snow crab, it is much more predictable to fish when the stock is healthy, says Street, president of the FFAW union.

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The rebound has also coincided with growing global demand for cod and declining stocks in countries like Norway and Iceland. This has helped drive up Northern cod prices, says Street.

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The Icewater plant, in Arnold’s Cove, was the only fish plant in North America to stay focused on cod after the moratorium, says Wareham. But even it changed its operations to process frozen cod from Norway and Iceland. Now, it is able to prioritize local catch again.

“We’ve waited 32 years for this to happen,” said Wareham, a seventh-generation fishery worker whose son will be the eighth.

With nearly 300 employees, his plant is by far the largest employer in the region.