The commercial cod fishery in Newfoundland and Labrador was once the most successful fishery in the world. When it collapsed in 1992 – causing the largest single-day layoff in Canadian history and irrevocable ecological damage – fishermen, scholars, and scientists pointed to failures in management such as uncontrolled harvesting as likely culprits.

Examining the history of commercial cod fisheries in the region from the mid-nineteenth century, Managed Annihilation makes the case that the very idea of natural resource management caused the death of the cod. The collapse occurred when the fisheries were ostensibly managed by the state, and the fishery has still not recovered nearly two decades later. Although the collapse raised doubts among policy-makers about their ability to understand, predict, and control nature, their ultimate goal of control through management has not wavered – it has simply been transferred onto new targets.

Dean Bavington is an Assistant Professor and Canada Research Chair in Environmental History at Nipissing University.

Dean Bavington's profile page

• Winner, Clio Prize for Canadian History - Atlantic, Canadian Historical Association
• Winner, Outstanding Jacket Design, 2011 AAUP Book, Jacket and Journal Show

This book ... is valuable to those seeking a fresh, provocative approach to the northern cod fishery in particular and to natural resource management in general. Summing Up: Highly recommended.

CHOICE, Vol. 48, No. 8

Bavington’s critique of existing management approaches is strong, and opens the door to a worthwhile discussion.

International Journal of Martime History, Vol XXII, No 2

The sorry state of ocean life has led to a new kind of fish story—a lament not for the one that got away but for the countless others that didn’t…Dean Bavington…observes that two hundred billion pounds’ worth of cod were taken from Canada’s Grand Banks before 1992, when the cod simply ran out.

The Scales Fall, The New Yorker

The sorry state of ocean life has led to a new kind of fish story – a lament not for the one that got away but for the countless others that didn't...Dean Bavington...observes that two hundred billion pounds worth of cod were taken from Canada's grand banks before 1992, when the cod simply ran out.

The New Yorker