The conditions that produced outstanding fishing grounds on east coast:
On the East Coast, there is a wide continental shelf that is less than 200 metres in depth. On the shelf, there are shallower areas called banks which are less than 150 metres in depth. The shallow areas allow sunlight to penetrate the bottom, allowing lush growth of plankton. The plentiful amounts of plankton causes a large attraction of fish. The largest and best known region on the east coast are the great banks which are 282 500 square kilometres.
The crisis and collapse of fishing on the east coast:
In the 1980s, it was noticed that there were fewer and smaller ground fish. The Northern cod off Newfoundland and South Labrador started disappearing. The collapse in 1991 was unexpected. The government responded in 2002 by halting all fishing for northern cod and major cuts in catches allowed. Scientist, government and fishing industries expected fish to recover in 5-7 years but it never did. The cod levels have remained below 1992 levels. The fish industry responded by diversifying catch. Now they catch large amounts of other fish such as shellfish, this may also end up in the same result as ground fish.
On the East Coast, there is a wide continental shelf that is less than 200 metres in depth. On the shelf, there are shallower areas called banks which are less than 150 metres in depth. The shallow areas allow sunlight to penetrate the bottom, allowing lush growth of plankton. The plentiful amounts of plankton causes a large attraction of fish. The largest and best known region on the east coast are the great banks which are 282 500 square kilometres.
The crisis and collapse of fishing on the east coast:
In the 1980s, it was noticed that there were fewer and smaller ground fish. The Northern cod off Newfoundland and South Labrador started disappearing. The collapse in 1991 was unexpected. The government responded in 2002 by halting all fishing for northern cod and major cuts in catches allowed. Scientist, government and fishing industries expected fish to recover in 5-7 years but it never did. The cod levels have remained below 1992 levels. The fish industry responded by diversifying catch. Now they catch large amounts of other fish such as shellfish, this may also end up in the same result as ground fish.