OCEAN FISHERIES By Alexandra Bondar

THE ORIGINS OF CANADIAN FISHERIES • John Cabot in late 15th-early 16th century • Discovered parts of North America under the

commission of Henry VII of England• The first since the Vikings• Labrador to New England

“the sea is swarming with fish –which can be taken not only with nets, but in baskets let down with a stone” -Cabot

FISHING INDUSTRIES• Ocean fisheries boom• New technology • Government agencies'

encouraging • Humans thirst: only grew,

expanded and increased with time

INTERNATIONAL OVERFISHING

• 1800s: Blubber for oil lamp, Anchovy, Sole • Mid-1900s: Sardine, Cod and Herring• Orange roughy, Patagonian toothfish, and Sablefish

“In 2003, a scientific report estimated that industrial fishing had reduced the number of large ocean fish to just 10 percent of their pre-industrial population” –National Geographic's

WHAT IS HAPPENING ?

OVER FISHING • North Sea of Europe, the Grand Banks of North America and the

East China Sea of Asia• In 2007, stocks of North Sea cod reached a historic low of 37,400

tonnes

• 70% of the world’s fish stocks are either fully exploited or depleted –United Nations

“Major conservation efforts including cuts in landing quotas have resulted in a 52% recovery in 2010 with an estimated stock of 54,200 tonnes. However, this figure is still well below previous figures - 250,000 tonnes in the 1970s” –National Geographic's

• NAFO and ICNAF • License and quota holders • Limiting fishing • Problems: several licences, and

overestimate the worth of cod and stocks growth rate

• Coastal Fisheries Protection Act (2012), Canadian Shipping act (2001)

GOVERNMENT & ORGANIZATIONS

IS IT REALLY WORKING?• 1992

• Prevent economic losses and massive unemployment

“Although overfishing in international waters did tremendous damage to northern cod, Canada also failed to maintain a sustainable fishery within its 200-mile limit. The government ignored warnings from inshore fishers and university scientists that cod stocks were in danger “ -Innis

THANK YOU