In 1992 the Canadian Federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, John Crosbie, declared a moratorium on the Northern Cod fishery, which for the preceding 50 years had largely shaped the lives and communities of Canada's eastern coast.
The collapse was first due to massive overfishing.
Second, the dependence for maintenance of the fishery itself on the nutrient cycle that was being disrupted by removal of megatons of biomass from a closed system resulted in the starvation of the residual fish.
The moratorium in 1992 marked the largest industrial closure in Canadian history.
Presently cod are increasing in numbers, health, normalizing in maturity and behavior, and offers a promising estimate of increased biomass.