The rise, fall and (maybe) rise again of the Newfoundland cod fisheries

In today’s The Big Story podcast, for 32 years a moratorium on cod fishing was in place in Newfoundland. When it hit, it cost tens of thousands of jobs, decimated the economy and changed the identity of the province. But now the ban has been lifted — sort of — and everyone is wondering what happens next.

Jenn Thornhill Verma is the author of Cod Collapse: The Rise and Fall of Newfoundland’s Saltwater Cowboys. “I think the quote from the federal government was, ‘historic return of the commercial northern cod fishery’ — it’s hard to call this that, given the quota is nowhere near what it used to be, the fish are a shadow of their one-time level of abundance,” says Thornhill Verma.  

Should the ban have been lifted? How far back have the cod come in 32 years? What will this mean to Newfoundland’s economy? And why are so many experts worried about how and why this decision was made?

You can subscribe to The Big Story podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google and Spotify. You can also find it at thebigstorypodcast.ca.