Bernard Martin | |
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Born | 1954 (age 69–70) Petty Harbour, NFLD, Canada |
Occupations |
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Awards | Goldman Prize 1999 |
Bernard Martin is a Canadian fisherman and environmentalist. He was awarded the Goldman Prize in 1999. [1]
Martin was born and raised in a fishing family in Petty Harbour, Newfoundland. He continues in his family's traditional cod fishing practices as a fourth-generation fisherman. [1] [2]
Cod fishing was a way of life in Newfoundland for centuries, but after the Second World War, commercial over-fishing and environmental factors began to take a serious toll, with populations in steep decline. [3] Martin and other inshore fishermen noticed their dwindling catches and alerted government officials to the situation. They hoped that preemptively lowering cod quotas might curb the decline. [4] They went so far as to create a protected fishing zone around Petty Harbour/Maddox Cove and formed a Fishermen’s Cooperative in 1983 to take control over the local industry. [1] However, large-scale, offshore fisheries were much later to acknowledge the slowdown and continued to fish, ultimately leading to the collapse of the industry. [4] Modern fishing equipment like monofilament bottom gill nets are particularly harsh on marine ecosystems. Martin and others continued to advise government officials that this was not sustainable. [1]
In 1992, the Canadian government banned commercial cod fishing in the hopes that the fish populations would increase. [3] After the moratorium on commercial fishing, Martin commented that many still supplemented their diets through recreational fishing, but this too was banned in 1994. Between the loss of income and the need to replace cod's nutritional value with additional grocery items, many in Newfoundland struggled financially. Martin, though aware of the environmental importance of the ban, was nonetheless disappointed by the recreational fishing ban as this forced families and communities to abandon habits spanning generations for a new lifestyle. [5]
Before and after the moratorium, Martin set out to publicise his experience and the mismanagement of the cod industry in the hopes that other marine ecosystems might be better preserved. He shared lessons learned in Alaska, Nicaragua, New Zealand and Eritrea. He also drew analogies between the over-fishing of cod and the logging of old-growth west coast forests. He was arrested near Clayoquot Sound for participating in a blockade against clear-cutting in 1993. [4]
He helped found the Fishers Organized for the Revitalization of Communities and Ecosystems (FORCE) which was supported by the United Nations. He also worked on the Sentinel Survey to study cod stocks and whether the devastation might have been preventable. He acted as coordinator for the Newfoundland and Labrador Oceans Caucus for a year. [1] He has been vocal in criticising the use of drag nets. [6]
Martin was a 1999 Goldman Environmental Prize recipient after being nominated by the Sierra Club of Canada in recognition of his advocacy to save the cod industry from over-fishing and harmful commercial practices like trawling. He intended to use the prize money to repay debts incurred from the ban, to support his four children and to give back to charity. [4] He was glad that the cause could gain credibility through his award. [2]
As of 2012, cod remained scarce and environmentalists recommended that similar measures be taken on the east coast of the United States as well despite possible economic repercussions. While shellfish have been replacing cod as the main market, Canadian fishermen are more careful to remain within recommended catch limits to preserve healthy, sustainable populations. [3] Martin himself transitioned to crab fishing. He is optimistic that the cod stocks are slowly recovering. [4]
Cod is the common name for the demersal fish genus Gadus, belonging to the family Gadidae. Cod is also used as part of the common name for a number of other fish species, and one species that belongs to genus Gadus is commonly not called cod.
A fisherman or fisher is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish.
Overfishing is the removal of a species of fish from a body of water at a rate greater than that the species can replenish its population naturally, resulting in the species becoming increasingly underpopulated in that area. Overfishing can occur in water bodies of any sizes, such as ponds, wetlands, rivers, lakes or oceans, and can result in resource depletion, reduced biological growth rates and low biomass levels. Sustained overfishing can lead to critical depensation, where the fish population is no longer able to sustain itself. Some forms of overfishing, such as the overfishing of sharks, has led to the upset of entire marine ecosystems. Types of overfishing include: growth overfishing, recruitment overfishing, ecosystem overfishing.
The fishing industry includes any industry or activity that takes, cultures, processes, preserves, stores, transports, markets or sells fish or fish products. It is defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization as including recreational, subsistence and commercial fishing, as well as the related harvesting, processing, and marketing sectors. The commercial activity is aimed at the delivery of fish and other seafood products for human consumption or as input factors in other industrial processes. The livelihood of over 500 million people in developing countries depends directly or indirectly on fisheries and aquaculture.
Gillnetting is a fishing method that uses gillnets: vertical panels of netting that hang from a line with regularly spaced floaters that hold the line on the surface of the water. The floats are sometimes called "corks" and the line with corks is generally referred to as a "cork line." The line along the bottom of the panels is generally weighted. Traditionally this line has been weighted with lead and may be referred to as "lead line." A gillnet is normally set in a straight line. Gillnets can be characterized by mesh size, as well as colour and type of filament from which they are made. Fish may be caught by gillnets in three ways:
Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for commercial profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice it as an industry must often pursue fish far into the ocean under adverse conditions. Large-scale commercial fishing is also known as industrial fishing.
The Turbot War was an international fishing dispute and bloodless conflict between Canada and Spain and their respective supporters.
Caplin Cove is a small community on the north shore of Conception Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It is surrounded on the north by Low Point near the end of the Bay de Verde Peninsula, and on the south by Lower Island Cove. Caplin Cove was probably named for the large body of capelin in its waters.
Individual fishing quotas (IFQs), also known as "individual transferable quotas" (ITQs), are one kind of catch share, a means by which many governments regulate fishing. The regulator sets a species-specific total allowable catch (TAC), typically by weight and for a given time period. A dedicated portion of the TAC, called quota shares, is then allocated to individuals. Quotas can typically be bought, sold and leased, a feature called transferability. As of 2008, 148 major fisheries around the world had adopted some variant of this approach, along with approximately 100 smaller fisheries in individual countries. Approximately 10% of the marine harvest was managed by ITQs as of 2008. The first countries to adopt individual fishing quotas were the Netherlands, Iceland and Canada in the late 1970s, and the most recent is the United States Scallop General Category IFQ Program in 2010. The first country to adopt individual transferable quotas as a national policy was New Zealand in 1986.
The province of Newfoundland and Labrador covers the period from habitation by Archaic peoples thousands of years ago to the present day.
The End of the Line: How Overfishing Is Changing the World and What We Eat is a book by journalist Charles Clover about overfishing. It was made into a movie released in 2009 and was re-released with updates in 2017.
Canada's fishing industry is a key contributor to the success of the Canadian economy. In 2018, Canada's fishing industry was worth $36.1 billion in fish and seafood products and employed approximately 300,000 people. Aquaculture, which is the farming of fish, shellfish, and aquatic plants in fresh or salt water, is the fastest growing food production activity in the world and a growing sector in Canada. In 2015, aquaculture generated over $1 billion in GDP and close to $3 billion in total economic activity. The Department Of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) oversees the management of Canada's aquatic resources and works with fishermen across the country to ensure the sustainability of Canada's oceans and in-land fisheries.
This page is a list of fishing topics.
Cod fishing in Newfoundland was carried out at a subsistence level for centuries, but large scale fishing began shortly after the European arrival in the North American continent in 1492, with the waters being found to be preternaturally plentiful, and ended after intense overfishing with the collapse of the fisheries in 1992.
In 1992, Northern Cod populations fell to 1% of historical levels, due in large part to decades of overfishing. The Canadian Federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, John Crosbie, declared a moratorium on the Northern Cod fishery, which for the preceding 500 years had primarily shaped the lives and communities of Canada's eastern coast. A significant factor contributing to the depletion of the cod stocks off Newfoundland's shores was the introduction of equipment and technology that increased landed fish volume. From the 1950s onwards, new technology allowed fishers to trawl a larger area, fish more in-depth, and for a longer time. By the 1960s, powerful trawlers equipped with radar, electronic navigation systems, and sonar allowed crews to pursue fish with unparalleled success, and Canadian catches peaked in the late-1970s and early-1980s. Cod stocks were depleted at a faster rate than could be replenished.
Cod fisheries are fisheries for cod. Cod is the common name for fish of the genus Gadus, belonging to the family Gadidae, and this article is confined to three species that belong to this genus: the Atlantic cod, the Pacific cod and the Greenland cod. Although there is a fourth species of the cod genus Gadus, Alaska pollock, it is commonly not called cod and therefore currently not covered here.
Ethnoichthyology is an area in anthropology that examines human knowledge of fish, the uses of fish, and importance of fish in different human societies. It draws on knowledge from many different areas including ichthyology, economics, oceanography, and marine botany.
"Make and Break Harbour" is a song by the Canadian folk singer Stan Rogers, first recorded as the 11th track on the album Fogarty's Cove in 1976. Standing with a significant portion of Rogers' work, the song features two common themes found within his other work: life on the sea and the endangered traditions that life encompasses.
Caplin Cove-Southport is a local service district and designated place in Trinity Bay in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Caplin Cove-Southport is approximately 50 km from Clarenville.
The Fisheries Act is legislation enacted by the Parliament of Canada, governing the powers of government to regulate fisheries and fishing vessels. The act has been undergoing major regulatory revisions in recent years, including those attached to treaty rights of Miꞌkmaq in Atlantic Canada. The Minister designated under the Act is the Ministers of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard.