A decade later, still no cod
A decade ago on Tuesday, the federal government brought about the end of a way of life in Newfoundland and Labrador with one sweeping decision it imposed a moratorium on the northern cod fishery.
What was intended to be a two-year ban on fishing to allow the stocks to rebound from overfishing has stretched to 10 years.
And the fish haven't returned.
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Today, he says he worries about what's left of the industry.
Cod fishing had sustained thousands of workers on both the water and the land for hundreds of years.
Now, abandoned fish processing plants dot the landscape.
"Our communities became totally disillusioned for the first few years," Gerard Chidley, a fisherman, told CBC Newsworld on Tuesday. "We went from total community involvement in the fishery to a bare few minimum people working."
Largest layoff in history
A decade ago, more than 30,000 people were thrown out of work in a day the single largest layoff in Canadian history.
Many of those people have pulled up stakes and moved to other parts of the country looking for work.
The industry today is one-third smaller than it was then. And the cod stocks are every bit as depleted, despite the moratorium.
"What we call a moratorium is really less fishing," said Daniel Pauly, a professor at the Fisheries Centre of the University of British Columbia. "Less fishing on a stock that is very much reduced amounts to too much fishing."
Many turn to shellfish
Those, such as Keith Hawkins, who still choose to make a living on the water, have other fish to catch but they know they can't take it for granted.
"It's always more, more, more. Yes, it's nice to have more," he said. "But, it's like the crab, now, if you see the size of that stock going down even a little bit at all, just think back 10 years."
The shellfish industry has exploded in the past few years, from $60 million a year to nearly $500 million.
"We've been doing better at the shrimp than we ever did at cod," said Ben Foley.
But fewer people are working in the industry, and they say the shrimp seem to be getting smaller.