Ancient Studies

Historically, the Gulf of Maine (GoM) was one of the world’s most productive fishing grounds.  Beginning in the early seventeenth century, its coastal codfish stocks attracted European colonists including the Pilgrims at Plymouth, Massachusetts on the shores of Cape Cod.  Today, however, Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) and virtually all large-bodied fishes are rare and “ecologically extinct” (sensu Estes et al., 1989) from coastal zones in the GoM (Steneck, 1997).  The decline of cod and other groundfishes is widely believed to be the result of top down predation (overfishing) (Jackson et al., 2001).  Recent archaeological studies in the GoM suggest prehistoric declines of apex predators due to fishing pressure began 4,000 years ago (Bourque et al., 2008).