Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
There are other hopeful signs. A paper published by Worm and his colleagues in Science in 2009 showed
that, since the 1990s, fishing pressure has eased up in a number of well-managed regions globally, including
Newfoundland and Labrador and the Northeast U.S. Shelf. Although these measures, including the cod
moratorium in Newfoundland, have only been instituted in the wake of overfishing and stock collapse, there
are encouraging results. Haddock stocks have substantially rebuilt on Georges Bank and the Northeast U.S.
Shelf, and there is now evidence of cod recovery in Newfoundland, where stocks have increased by 70 percent
on the Grand Banks since 2007. Worldwide, the key to success is to combine protected areas with other man-
agement tools, such as fishing gear restrictions, lower catch quotas, and incentives for fishers to support the
conservation of stocks. Taken together, these measures provide promise that despite a long history of overex-
ploitation, marine ecosystems can still recover.
The rarest of the world's great whales, the North Atlantic right whale, seems poised to make a comeback due to recent
conservation measures.
The North Atlantic right whale is another case in point. Nearly hunted to extinction, first by the Basques and
later by the Nantucket whalers, this most endangered of the great whales is finally showing signs of recovery.
Protected from hunting since the 1930s, the population failed to rebound as expected, with as few as three hun-
dred animals in existence when they were discovered in the 1970s to be concentrated on feeding grounds in the
