When the cod fishery collapsed in Newfoundland three decades ago, ending a way of life for the island’s fishermen, Bruce Wareham started looking across the ocean – to the cold waters of the Barents Sea, where Russian trawlers were hauling in increasingly large catches every year.
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, just before the cod moratorium devastated Newfoundland’s economy, Russia has become an increasingly large supplier of the world’s cod. It now accounts for about 40 per cent of the North Atlantic cod harvest. Norway and Iceland make up most of the rest.
Russian and Norwegian cod, which arrives in Arnold’s Cove deheaded, gutted and frozen, allowed the former High Liner Foods plant to survive as the last year-round facility focused on cod in Newfoundland. When it opened in 1979, in the heyday of the Newfoundland fishery, all its cod came from local boats.
In 2020, Mr. Wareham’s company completed a $14-million upgrade that would allow it to double production. But the war in Ukraine is causing uncertainty for fish companies, along with plenty of other industries, around the world. One impact will be a rise in the price of cod, which Mr. Wareham already sells as a premium product, he said.
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