In October 1989, it was revealed that Cod Stocks in Norway were the lowest in 100 years.
By June 1990, Norway imposed a full moratorium on its winter Cod fishery. A revolt erupted amongst Norwegians, but emergency funds were issued to soften the blow of the Cod hitting historic low levels.
The Cod crisis forced the Norwegians to take prompt action. For the first time, vessel quotas were set up which later changed to TACs. It also banned all fishing on its spawning grounds as soon as the stocks were known to be in trouble. Further, Norway took steps to stop foreign overfishing; and any foreigner who was caught fishing in the area had their home country charged and a huge fine imposed.
By the following year, in 1991, Cod populations were regaining in number.
While Norway's stocks were not in a collapsed state, they took decisive action. We started to see a decline in our fisheries in the early 1970s, but a moratorium was not imposed until 1992.
While Norway's stocks were not in a collapsed state, they took decisive action. We started to see a decline in our fisheries in the early 1970s, but a moratorium was not imposed until 1992.
In 1992, just as the big Cod bomb hit in NL, the spawning biomass of the Barent Sea Cod was bigger than it had been in 25 years. Still, Oslo resisted a dramatic increase in quotas.
Norway also spent a great deal of money to close the knowledge gap in science. They realised they had been overfishing Cod stocks for over 30 years and wisely used their lucrative oil money to save their fishery.
Norway's Cod bonanza has also benefited from climate change; but they are also reaping the reward of human intervention with far-sighted fisheries management.
It is also noteworthy that 80-90 percent of Norway's Cod is shared with other countries, including Russia- and the two have a Joint Fisheries Commission deciding fishery quotas on scientific evidence which not only ensures sustainable harvesting, but productivity and profit. For the most part, industry, fleet and fishermen all back this approach as it is working. (Incidentally, the 2017 Cod quota for the Arctic Barent Seas is 890,000 tonnes.)
Yes, Norway & Russia have international joint management,
but NL and Ottawa in the same country have not been able to achieve this much needed fishery arrangement if we are ever to regain some say in the management of our traditional natural resources.
Today, Norway has the world's largest Cod stock, and 25 years later our Cod Stocks are still struggling to rebound - apparently, only at about 30 per cent of the historic biomasss in 1968.
Even worst our federal government does not have a proper rebuilding plan in place, as confirmed by the Auditor General's Office earlier this fall.
It's time NL lay out our own "Cod Manifesto" on what we want from Ottawa and time lines to achieve OUR Goals - including a full rebuilding of our stocks with annual assessments (not just on Cod but Cod's prime food - caplin); increased science and joint management.
The Ottawa folks have proven that they do not have the Cod balls in their jeans or genes. They are too land-lock to know what is good for our province and people when it comes to our fishery and our heritage.
Our future depends on us defining what is it that we want from our Cod resource in a formal document- and going after it like it's life or death.
We do not need to reinvent the wheel, but a wheel needs to be put on the vehicle so we can drive our fisheries as other successful countries like Norway are doing.
#InCodWeStillTrust #CodManifesto
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