266
NOW YOU’VE GOT
BIGGER AND BIGGER
BOATS CHASING
SMALLER AND
FEWER FISH
OVERFISHING
I
n 1992, one piece of legislation
changed the ecological,
socioeconomic, and cultural
structure of Canada’s Atlantic
Maritime provinces. John Crosbie,
the Federal Minister of Fisheries
and Oceans, placed a moratorium
on the Atlantic cod fishery; no
further cod could be harvested
from the ocean. His ruling was a
necessity; the volume of northern
cod was down to 1 percent of
previous levels. The region had
been overfished to the point where
recovery could not occur if fishing
were allowed to continue. Crosbie
called it the toughest political
moment of his career. The decision
put thousands of Canadians out ofIN CONTEXT
KEY FIGURE
John Crosbie (1931–)BEFORE
1946 The International
Whaling Commission is set up
to review and control whaling,
reversing a dramatic decline
after centuries of hunting.1972 Overfishing and a strong
El Niño cause Peru’s coastal
anchovy fisheries to crash—a
blow to the national economy.AFTER
2000 The World Wildlife Fund
places cod on its endangered
species list and launches a UK
Oceans Recovery Campaign.2001 Jeremy Jackson and
other marine biologists trace
the history of overfishing.2010 The UNESCO Aichi
Biodiversity Target 11 calls for
a tenth of coastal and marine
areas to be protected by 2020.US_266-269_Overfishing.indd 266 12/11/18 6:25 PM