“It was the wild west, as all fished in a totally unregulated way in a free-for-all.”

For centuries, fishermen the world over have been prosecuting the waters teeming with cod from the Grand Banks of Newfoundland and Labrador. The growing demand for fish in world markets, the inexorable march of technology, and the failure of international governments to limit the harvest from the sea have each played a part in turning this industry into a thin shadow of its once great majesty.

With more than 500 photos of foreign and domestic vessels, crews, ports, shipyards, and modes of processing fish at sea aboard ships that were part of Newfoundland and Labrador’s collective history, The Grand Banks is a full and impartial history of the magnitude of this fishing effort.