One of the most dramatic collapses was that of the northern cod, historically the most important stock of the northwest Atlantic, which, in only four years, between 1990 and 1994, was reduced in numbers by a factor of a hundred.(6) The northern cod is not an isolated case.
On a enregistré l’effondrement d’autres espèces, notamment le capelan, l’anchois, la sardine, l’ormeau et le sprat(9). La population génitrice de thon rouge de l’Atlantique Ouest, qui est probablement le poisson qui a le plus de valeur au monde(10), aurait diminué de 90 p.