The Twentieth Century Explosion:
Foreign Fishing along Canada's East Coast

uring the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, vessels from France, the United States, Britain, Spain and Portugal continued to operate on the fishing grounds along Canada's east coast. After the Second World War, new fleets arrived from countries such as Russia (Soviet Union), Poland, Germany, Japan and Cuba.

Many foreign vessels used new technology to find, harvest and refrigerate their catches. Canadians also modernized their fishing fleets, but more slowly than others. By the 1960s, there was a much greater presence of powerful vessels, especially from Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. Canadians competed with the foreign fleets for a larger share of the catch.

Conservation and New Rules

assive growth in fishing resulted in the decline of fish stocks in the northwest Atlantic and around the globe. In response, a worldwide legal effort led to a United Nations agreement in the 1970s to create 200-mile exclusive economic zones for coastal states. Canada was at the forefront of these negotiations.

Since 1977, coastal countries have been managing their own fishing areas within a 200-mile zone. Canada has benefited from the United Nations agreement and from the definition of its maritime boundaries with the United States (between Nova Scotia and Maine) and France (between Newfoundland, and Saint-Pierre and Miquelon).

Canada is responsible for its 200-mile zone. Our challenge is to achieve a sustainable fishery within, and beyond, that zone. Preventing overfishing in the northwest Atlantic and all oceans is a global necessity.