An abandoned residence in the community of Gaskers in St. Mary’s bay which is in the process of being demolished.
The Canadian government imposed a moratorium on the Northern cod fishery on 2 July 1992. The closure ended almost 500 years of fishing activity in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The cod moratorium sparked the single largest mass layoff in Canadian history and put about 30,000 fishers and plant workers out of work. In the 10 years following the moratorium, the province’s population dropped by a record 10 per cent, leaving a large number of houses abandoned in rural fishing communities all across the island.
