Carl Linnaeus assigned the scientific name Gadus morhua to the Atlantic cod in the year 1758. This species is a demersal fish capable of changing its skin color to match the ocean floor and can grow up to 200 centimeters in length. It lives for up to 25 years in the cold, deep waters of the North Atlantic.
John Crosbie declared a moratorium on the Northern Cod fishery on the 2nd of July 1992. This decision followed data showing the total cod biomass had collapsed to less than 1% of its normal value. The collapse had been brewing since the late 1950s when modern trawling technology allowed fishermen to harvest the ocean with unprecedented efficiency.
Spawning for the Atlantic cod occurs between January and April in specific grounds where water temperatures remain between 2 and 4 degrees Celsius. Eggs hatch between eight and 23 days, and larvae reach 1 centimeter in length before entering a planktonic phase that lasts some ten weeks. The cod reaches maturity at about 50 centimeters at about 3 to 4 years of age.
The cod worm Lernaeocera branchialis begins its life as a tiny copepod-like larva that attaches itself to a flatfish before seeking out a cod. The female larva clings to the cod's gills and metamorphoses into a plump, sinusoidal worm that penetrates the fish's body to reach the rear bulb of the cod's heart. There, the parasite roots itself in the cod's circulatory system to extract nutrients while remaining safely tucked beneath the gill cover.
When the government declared the moratorium on the 2nd of July 1992, some 19,000 fishermen and processing plant workers lost their jobs overnight. Nearly 40,000 workers and harvesters in Newfoundland and Labrador applied for the federal relief program known as TAGS, the Atlantic Groundfish Strategy. Abandoned and rusting fishing boats still litter the coasts of Newfoundland to this day as silent monuments to the destroyed fishery.