- Grand Banks of Newfoundland
The Grand Banks are a group of underwater
plateau s southeast of Newfoundland on theNorth America ncontinental shelf . These areas are relatively shallow, ranging from 80 to 330 feet in depth. The coldLabrador Current mixes with the warm waters of theGulf Stream here.The mixing of these waters and the shape of the ocean bottom lifts nutrients to the surface. These conditions helped to create one of the richest
fishing grounds in the world.Fish species includeAtlantic cod ,haddock andcapelin .Shellfish includescallop andlobster . The area also supports large colonies ofsea bird s such asNorthern Gannet s,shearwater s and sea ducks and various seamammal s such as seals,dolphin s andwhale s.In addition to the effects on nutrients, the mixing of the cold and warm currents often causes
fog in the area.History
Several navigators, including Basque fishermen, are claimed to have fished these waters in the 15th century.Fact|date=April 2008 In the 15th century some texts refer to a land called "
Bacalao ", the land of the codfish, which is possibly Newfoundland. However, it was not untilJohn Cabot reached the New World in 1497 that the existence of these fishing grounds became generally known inEurope . Ships fromFrance ,Spain ,Portugal andEngland came to fish these waters. These fish stocks were also important for the early economies of easternCanada andNew England .On
November 18 ,1929 , a majorearthquake (known as the1929 Grand Banks earthquake ) on the southwestern part of the Grand Banks bordering the Laurentian Channel caused an underwater landslide which resulted in extensive damage totransatlantic cable s and generated a rare Atlantictsunami that struck the south coast of Newfoundland and easternCape Breton Island claiming 27 lives in theBurin Peninsula .Technological advances in fishing such as large factory ships and
sonar , as well as geopolitical disputes overterritorial sea andexclusive economic zone (EEZ) boundaries, have led tooverfishing and a serious decline in the fish stocks of the Grand Banks from around 1990. The fishery-based economy ofNewfoundland and Labrador has been in a severe crisis since the 1990s. Canada's EEZ currently occupies the majority of the Grand Banks except for the lucrative "nose" (eastern extremity, near theFlemish Cap ) and "tail" (southern extremity) of the fishing bank. However, theTreaty of Paris (1783) gives theUnited States shared rights to fish in these waters, despite the EEZ.Research
Canada is currently performing the hydrographic and geological surveys necessary for claiming the entire continental shelf off eastern Canada, under the auspices of the latest
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea . Once this aspect of UNCLOS is ratified, Canada will presumably control these remaining parts of Grand Banks which are outside of its EEZ jurisdiction.Petroleum reserves have also been discovered and a number of oil fields are under development in this region, most notably the Hibernia, Terra Nova, and White Rose projects; the harsh environment on the Grand Banks also led to the "Ocean Ranger " disaster.Culture
Semi-fictional depictions of fishermen working on the Grand Banks can be found in Sebastian Junger's novel "
The Perfect Storm " (1997) and inRudyard Kipling 's novel "Captains Courageous " (1897).ee also
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Continental shelf
*Turbot War
*Banks dory External links
* [http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/overfishing-surpeche/media/bk_grandbanks_e.htm Overfishing:The Grand Banks and the Flemish Cap]
* [http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/communic/reports/nafo-opano/govresp-repgouv_e.htm Government response to the standing committee on fisheries and oceans' tenth report]
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