Fisheries

Question 1

Why are cod ideal fish for the fishing industry?

Answer 1

Easy to dry and salt

Question 2

What are some characteristics of cod?

Answer 2

Demersal, longlived (20+yrs), early maturity (2-4yrs), omnivorous, broadcast spawn, highly fecund, soniferous

Question 3

Why does Georges Bank have high primary production?

Answer 3

Anti-cyclonic retention gyre around the bank, frontal zone (gulfstream meets Labrador current)

Question 4

What are the target species in the Georges Bank food web?

Answer 4

Copepods, Pseudocalanus, Haddock, Cod,

Question 5

What are the early years of the New England Groundfish fishery?

Answer 5

The Basque kept secret for 400yrs, discovery of codfish banks by John Cabot in 1497, wars between France, England, Spain, first industry for US colonial settlers, in 1700, 11m pds cod shipped from Boston to Europe

Question 6

How was the early harvest done?

Answer 6

Handline, longline, gillnets

Question 7

What happened in the early 1900s related to the groundfish fishery?

Answer 7

Over 800 schooners sailed from New England ports for cod, dangerous work for fishermen who set and pulled baited groundline by hand, 3800 lost from Gloucester from 8301900

Question 8

When did atlantic halibut become commercially extinct?

Answer 8

1890

Question 9

What is wrong with bottom trawling?

Answer 9

Degrades habitat, bycatch

Question 10

What happened to advance the New England Groundfish Fisher?

Answer 10

Steampowered trawl vessels catch fish 6x faster than sailing

Question 11

How much did trawl fishery grow in 1920?

Answer 11

4x with 125000 tons, 1930 growth overfishing was evident

Question 12

When did the distant water fleet show up and what did it do?

Answer 12

1960, extremely efficient harvest of all groundfish species, poor regulations mean collapse of fish populations

Question 13

What was the solution to prevent distant fleets from taking fish stocks?

Answer 13

Extend national fishing grounds from 200 nautical miles (from 12)

Question 14

What did the domestication of the groundfish fishery do?

Answer 14

Eliminate foreign fleets, abandoned harvest quotas in 1982 (instead fish/mesh size limites)

Question 15

When did declines and collapses start to occur?

Answer 15

Early 1980s declines, GB haddock and yellowtail flounder, SNE YT flounder collapse

Question 16

When was the highest effort in fishing?

Answer 16

1990s, with record low biomass

Question 17

What happened in 1994?

Answer 17

NMFS issued license moratorium, reduced allowable days at sea, closed portions of GB and SNE, new fish/mesh size restrictions

Question 18

Have stocks recovered after almost 10yrs of imposed closures?

Answer 18

Some have (scallops), some haven’t (cod, some indication of recovery)

Question 19

Over the last 500 years, what caused declines in cod landings?

Answer 19

Generally wars, some instances of poor productivity

Question 20

When was all cod fishing in Newfoundland stopped?

Answer 20

1992

Question 21

What has replaced the cod fisheries?

Answer 21

Shrimp, snow crab, other crustaceans