Cod fishing in Newfoundland

Beothuk numbers began to dwindle rapidly due to a combination of factors directly relating to European colonization of the Americas, Inuit and Mi'kmaq migration[citation needed], and by the 19th Century, the tribe no longer existed.

They developed a system of light salting, washing and drying onshore, which became very popular because the fish could remain edible for years.

Sir John Hawkins devised the raid as a way to rob Portugal and Spain of experienced mariners, and capture ships.

The role of Newfoundland became particularly important following the American War of Independence when New England's traders lost access to British colonies, leading to a famine among slaves between 1780 and 1787.

Historian Mark Kurlansky notes that eventually, "Nova Scotia and Newfoundland took up the slack, and their fisheries too became largely geared for low-grade West India saltfish.

[8] The industry collapsed entirely in the early 1990s owing to overfishing and debatably, greed, lack of foresight and poor local administration.

Those rules helped protect jobs in fish plants, especially in rural areas hit hard by the cod moratorium since 1992.