Workers at a St. John’s fish plant, 1978
The fisheries suffered from overcapacity during the 1970s. Ottawa failed to properly limit the number of fishers working in offshore waters and the province allowed too many processing plants to operate. This resulted in glutted markets, low incomes, and continued depletion of the stocks.

Reproduced by permission of the Department of Trade and Technology, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. ©1978. From Newfoundland Department of Fisheries, Fish Is the Future: The Development Program for the Newfoundland and Labrador Fishing Industry to 1985. (St. John's: The Department, 1978), 13.