4.3.5—Fishery collapse
- Syllabus
- First assessment 2026
- Objective
- 4.3.5
- Level
- SL
Explain Why Grand Banks Cod Did Not Bounce Back
Grand Banks cod collapse followed excessive industrial removal and weak management; a moratorium alone could not instantly restore a depleted, altered system.
Trace catch and habitat damage → low breeding stock → weak recruitment, bycatch and food-web change → slow recovery. Renewed pressure can reinforce the decline.
After the 1992 moratorium, few mature spawners meant even reduced catch produced too few recruits for rapid recovery.
Recovery also depends on age structure, habitat, food web, bycatch and enforcement.
A moratorium changes one pressure; it does not reverse every ecological legacy immediately.