Newfoundland and Labrador's physical environment greatly influenced the ways settlers made a living during the 19th century. The richness of marine resources encouraged a pattern of coastal settlement and made the cod and seal fisheries central to local economies. In contrast, the relative scarcity of good soils and other terrestrial resources made large-scale farming operations impractical and discouraged year-round habitation of interior spaces.

Decades of overfishing in Newfoundland and Labrador caused the northern cod stocks to collapse during the 1990s and resulted in a moratorium.

Forest industries contribute much to the Newfoundland and Labrador economy.

Newfoundland and Labrador's forests are a renewable resource, so long as they are harvested in a sustainable way.

The island of Newfoundland contains 15 million acres of forest, of which more than nine million acres are considered productive.

Government officials promoted various land-based industries during the first half of the 20th century.

Logging was difficult and often dangerous work during the first half of the 20th century, yet workers received some of the lowest wages in Newfoundland and Labrador. From sunrise until sunset, loggers felled trees, hauled logs, and helped bring the wood to the mill site.

The gradual mechanization of Newfoundland and Labrador's logging industry changed the way loggers interacted with forest ecosystems.

Advances in technology during the second half of the twentieth century dramatically altered commercial logging in Newfoundland and Labrador.

A major concern surrounding Newfoundland and Labrador's offshore oil industry is that it may do serious damage to the ocean environment.

Advances in transportation during the late 1800s and the early 1900s affected the development of the forestry and mining industries in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The Voisey's Bay project has the potential to do considerable damage to the environment if not properly managed by industry and by the government.