Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World

After World War II, Newfoundlanders separated from British rule and become the 10th province of Canada. After the 200-mile zone was established in 1977, the Canadian government believed they had an opportunity to make fishing an economic power again. Their first obstacle was to remove the Europeans from the waters and deal with the border with the US. The Spanish and Portuguese had been fishing on the Grand Banks for over 500 years. Now, they were limited by strict quotas. This was a massive blow to the Spanish, who have no viable fishing grounds within their own control, yet have the “highest per capita fish consumption of any Western country” (179).

The second issue Canada faced was the shared waters with the United States. The Georges Bank, off the coast of New England and the most viable fishing ground in the region, was within the 200-mile zone of both the US and Nova Scotia, leading to tension between Canada and New England. Eventually, under international arbitration, Canada was awarded the northeast corner of the Georges Bank while the United States retained the rest.

The Canadian government then invested millions in building up the Grand Banks fleet and modernizing the seafood companies. In doing so, they disenfranchised the smaller inshore fishermen who used traditional methods and could not compete with the modernized trawlers.