CELPIP Reading Part 3 Practice Test: The Northern Cod Moratorium

Paragraph A

For hundreds of years, cod was the reason people lived along the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador. European fishing fleets were crossing the Atlantic to the Grand Banks by the 1500s, and permanent settlements later grew up in hundreds of small coastal communities known as outports. In many of them, nearly every family depended on the fishery. Men fished from small boats close to shore, while women and children often worked on land, splitting, salting and drying the catch on wooden platforms so that it would keep for the long journey to markets overseas. This dried, salted fish was traded as far away as southern Europe and the Caribbean.

Paragraph B

The pressure on the cod grew dramatically in the decades after the Second World War. Large factory trawlers from many countries began working the offshore banks, dragging enormous nets and processing and freezing their catch on board, which allowed them to stay at sea for weeks at a time. In 1977, Canada extended its fishing zone to 200 nautical miles from shore, pushing most foreign vessels out of the richest grounds. Instead of easing, however, fishing pressure continued as Canada’s own offshore fleet expanded. Estimates of how many fish remained later proved far too optimistic, even as fishers working close to shore warned that their catches were shrinking.

Paragraph C

By the early 1990s, the northern cod had collapsed. In July 1992, the federal government announced a moratorium, or temporary ban, on fishing for northern cod. It was expected to last about two years, long enough for the stock to begin rebuilding. The impact on the province was immediate. Tens of thousands of people in fishing and fish processing lost their work, in what is often described as the largest mass layoff in Canadian history. For many families, fishing had been not just a job but a way of life handed down through generations. Ottawa introduced income support and retraining programs, though many people found that the skills being offered did not match the jobs available near their homes.

Paragraph D

The cod did not return as quickly as expected, and the ban was extended again and again. Many people, especially the young, left their outports to work elsewhere, often in western Canada, and some communities became much smaller as a result. Those who stayed in the industry turned increasingly to shellfish such as snow crab and shrimp, which in time brought in more money than cod had. Other communities have looked to tourism, drawing visitors to see icebergs, whales and seabirds along the same coasts that once depended on cod. In recent years, as scientists have reported some improvement, a limited commercial cod fishery has been allowed again, but there is still debate about how quickly it should grow.