They hoped that preemptively lowering cod quotas might curb the decline.[2] The went so far as to create a protected fishing zone around Petty Harbour/Maddox Cove and formed a Fishermen’s Cooperative in 1983 to take control over the local industry.[3] However, large-scale, offshore fisheries were much later to acknowledge the slowdown and continued to fish, ultimately leading to the collapse of the industry.[4] Modern fishing equipment like monofilament bottom gill nets are particularly harsh on marine ecosystems.