The collapse of cod in Eastern Canada: The evidence from tagging data

Abstract

We examined the history of exploitation of three cod populations in Eastern Canada since 1954 as estimated from tag return data from 122 tagging experiments. We found very high rates of exploitation in the late 1980s and early 1990s that are consistent with the hypothesis that these populations collapsed because of overfishing. The estimates were made with a new method that incorporates the data in the year of tagging which are often ignored. © 1996 International Council for the Exploration of the Sea.