Slogging through my post-holiday emails I came across an article about the fate of an Atlantic cod stock off Newfoundland. It doesn’t look good. In fact, according to model predictions performed by biologists at DFO, it’s down right alarming. They’re facing extirpation (local extinction) within 38 years even if not a single fish is caught from this point forward, and could be gone in 20 years even if limited fishing is allowed.
After the infamous collapse of the Canadian cod fishery in the early 1990s, a fishing ban raised hope for fisheries managers and biologists that the cod would rebound to its once bountiful state. No dice. According to the study found in last November’s issue of the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, despite over a decade of “recovery time” for the southern Gulf stock, there is no recovery in sight for this population and other populations are slowly disappearing. The Scotian Shelf population, another victim of the rape and pillage leading into the ‘90s, may be one of these stocks. And while various other Canadian cod populations are doing alright, so too was the Gulf population until recently.
Atlantic cod is listed on the World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List as vulnerable – “facing a high risk of extinction in the wild in the medium-term future” (last assessed in 1996). Of the 16 Atlantic cod stocks, 13 are overfished, and ICES recommends 9 of them be closed to fishing. The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) has identified many Atlantic cod populations as being either endangered, threatened or of special concern. Fishing of all the stocks managed by the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization is banned. But if fishing is banned on many stocks, many are recognized as at risk, and government officials are aware of the problem, why isn't the cod able to recover?
According to the biologists, adult cod just can’t seem to survive in recent years. But I’d bet that the reason that they can’t recover also has much to do with the reason why they collapse in the first place: overfishing. While no directed fishery exists for many of Canada’s cod populations, catches are allowed through other fisheries, and thus even a ban can’t keep them safe.
DFO seems to have learned nothing from the collapse of the early '90s. Many of our domestic fisheries are being dangerously overfished including halibut and turbot, and others employ destructive gear that is destroying sensitive and important benthic habitats and killing marine species not meant for catch.
Before long, tourists wanting to get screeched in on the rock will be kissing a jellyfish. That that thought can shock DFO into action.