Fishermen from Portugal, the Basque provinces of France and Spain, Northern France (perhaps Normandy) and West Country England are known to have frequented eastern Newfoundland during the first half of the 1600s, some as early as the first decade of the 16th century.
Toward the end of the 18th century, Newfoundland's migratory fishery began to lose importance at a time the resident population was experiencing a sudden increase.
Overview of the Dutch raid on Ferryland in 1673, which occurred after the Dutch had been defeated by the English and lost their colonies in what is now New York.