ABSTRACT
Around the world millions of people rely on marine and freshwater ecosystems to provide food, employment and a way of life. With many global fisheries overfished, and overfishing continuing, the health of our ocean ecosystems and those who depend upon them is at risk. The northern cod fishery in Newfoundland, Canada, provides an example of the role of a fishery in supporting the health and wellbeing of the community, and thereby the importance of ensuring the sustained and even improved health of the fishery. The impacts of the northern cod collapse continue to be felt throughout Newfoundland and Atlantic Canada today. This chapter employs an adapted Community Capitals Framework to explore the contribution of the cod fishery to community wellbeing in small fishing villages of Newfoundland through assessing the deficits left after the moratorium was announced on June 2, 1992. This moratorium remains in place today, nearly three decades later. The contributions of the fishery to natural, cultural, political, social, economic, and human capital, and in turn the contributions of those capitals to community wellbeing is discussed. This case study provides an interesting example where thinking about the fishery as part of a regenerative food system, one where food production and consumption contributes to human health, may have led to different policy choices in support of long-term fisheries’ sustainability. Through understanding the role of the fishery in supporting community wellbeing we can begin to understand the importance of ensuring sustainable fisheries beyond continuing to pull fish from the water.
