December 21, 2014 — There are clear indications of recovery in the province’s once-devastated cod stocks. And it has industry players looking at what comes next.
Northern cod fell under moratorium in 1992 and it is not back yet, according to DFO scientist John Brattey, regardless of now-common anecdotes.
“You hear a few fishermen saying, ‘Oh, there’s more now than there was in John Cabot’s day,’ and all this rhetoric,” Brattey said. “The information we’ve got, when you look at the big picture, it just doesn’t substantiate that.”
But things are improving.
In the early days of the moratorium, northern cod was at about two per cent of its 1980s estimates. It now stands at a little over 15 per cent of 1980s levels.
“It’s looking better. It’s coming up, but we’ve still an awful, awful long way to go,” he said.
Read the full story at The Telegram