Conservation of Atlantic Cod: It’s Up to Us!

October 2008 – With funding from the Government of Canada Habitat Stewardship Program for Species at Risk, Intervale created and distributed a colourful poster designed to target residents of Newfoundland and Labrador who engage in the Recreational Groundfish Fishery with a soft conservation message. The poster features an attractive, close-up photograph of a live Atlantic cod, along with the heading, “Our heritage, our future.” Near the bottom of the poster are the words, “It’s up to us. Help conserve our precious resource.” The viewer is confronted eyeball to eyeball with a living cod while being encouraged to contemplate his or her own role in the conservation of this iconic species that is at the heart of Newfoundland and Labrador culture. There is no getting around the fact that the recovery of cod stocks will take more than the efforts of fish harvesters. Each of us has a part to play.

The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) has listed the Newfoundland and Labrador population of Atlantic cod as endangered and the Laurentian North population as threatened. Many scientists, fish harvesters, and resource managers disagree on the status of cod and the prospects for its recovery. But what is certain is that recovery efforts need to involve many people working together for a common cause. This is not the task of fish harvesters alone.

Drafts of the cod poster were reviewed by representatives of Fisheries and Oceans Canada; the Fish, Food, and Allied Workers union; and communications specialists with Environment Canada. The poster was distributed all across the province by volunteers from industry, government departments, universities, municipalities, communities, and nonprofit organizations. It has also been distributed to communities in Nunatsiavut on the Labrador North Coast and to other aboriginal communities in the province.

Additional funding for this poster was provided by Shell Environmental Fund.

Download the poster: “Cod: Our Heritage, Our Future.”

For additional information, contact info@intervale.ca