The Cod Industry: Lifeblood of Newfoundland

Newfoundland’s cod industry began in the 1550s when Basque (from northern Spain) and Portuguese fleets began fishing the waters of the Grand Banks and the Strait of Belle Isle. The Portuguese and Basque fishermen were just the beginning. In the 1600s, the French and English also began fishing the area, but in 1713, the Peace of Utrecht changed the situation. It granted the island of Newfoundland to the British, with limited fishing rights for the French.

In 1763, the Treaty of Paris ceded all French possessions in Canada to England. England’s wars with France and the United States brought many settlers to Newfoundland. In the 1850s, Newfoundland and England began battling over fishing rights. Nations have been arguing over fishing rights in the area ever since. The Newfoundland fisheries began to grow, and by the 1890s, 90 percent of the population of Newfoundland was involved in the fishing industry. 

The fish were salted on board each ship, then taken back to Europe to be dried and sold. The English, who had limited access to salt, lightly salted their fish, washed it, and then airdried it, a method that eventually made Newfoundland cod famous.

Because the fish migrate annually, some fishermen returned to their homes in England at the end of each season. The Irish, however, came to stay, doing their fishing in the local bays. St. John’s, Newfoundland, became the center of the cod-fishing industry. Even today, methods of cod fishing vary among fishermen. Some use hooks and lines; others hang trawling nets behind their boats.

In 1911, the Hague Tribunal, an international group that met in Holland, awarded Newfoundland control of its bays. For 38 years, Newfoundland had exclusive rights to the fish in the area. In 1949, when Newfoundland joined the Canadian Confederation, it gave up its exclusive fishing rights. For Newfoundland families, most of whom depended on the cod industry for their livelihood, this change was disastrous. From then on, fishing fleets came from everywhere. This response resulted in overfishing by fleets of foreign trawlers, and the cod stocks were depleted. In 1971, the newly formed Newfoundland Fishermen, Food, and Allied Workers Union gave power to the local fishermen, and six years later, a 200-mile limit was placed on Newfoundland waters. Foreign fishing fleets could no longer fish inside those limits. But it was almost too late.  

In an attempt to put more fish into the local fishing grounds, in 1986 aqua culture (cod farming) industries were begun, but they weren’t as successful as had been hoped. By 1990, the numbers of cod in Newfoundland’s waters were the lowest ever. The situation had become desperate.

In 1992, the Canadian government placed a two-year moratorium on commercial cod fishing. Numerous Newfoundland families lost their income as fishing rights were taken away and canneries were closed. At one time, the waters around Newfoundland were so filled with cod it is said that it could be gathered by the bucketful. But what for years had seemed like an endless supply of fish had resulted in overharvesting.

The moratorium was expected to end in 1994, but when it was estimated that the cod catch had declined 90 percent in the preceding five years, the moratorium was extended. The processing plants that had remained open were forced to close. However, the situation outside the 200-mile limit did not change: Foreign fishermen continued to fish beyond this limit.  

It wasn’t until 1997 that the situation showed any sign of improvement. Still, commercial fishing was allowed only on a drastically reduced basis. Cod farms began supplying young fish to the coastal waters. Other species, such as crab and shrimp, are being caught in place of cod. But in spite of the reduced supplies of fish, cod fishing is still important to Newfoundland. As most families have been involved with cod in some way, the cod is central to the culture of Newfoundland. No visitor to Newfoundland escapes without “kissing the cod,” a traditional ceremony also known as being “screeched in.” The ceremony involves donning fishermen’s clothing, kissing a codfish (or being slapped in the face with one), or biting the head off an uncooked capelin, a small, herring like fish.

A fisherman leads the visitor in an exchange of questions and answers that are spoken in the local, hard-to-understand dialect. The verbal exchange ends with the visitor asking, “Is we Newfies yet?” The answer is, “Deed we is me old trout, an’ long may yer big jib draw,” meaning, “Yes, we are and may your sails be full of wind.” The person being screeched in then drinks the strong local rum, “screech,” in one gulp.