Chapter 10 Videos with Critical Thinking Exercises

Atlantic Canada

Video 1: Sherren, Reg. Cod Moratorium: 25 Years On [video]. Toronto, ON: CBC/Radio Canada; 2017.

Link  https://curio.ca/en/video/cod-moratorium-25-years-on-15341/.

  • Registration and login required for access. Curio is free to most faculty and students of Canadian post-secondary institutions.

Length  15 minutes 24 seconds

Short summary/description

  •   This video provides an historical overview of 1992 when the Canadian government shut down Newfoundland's northern cod fishing industry and there was an angry outcry. Up until then, fishermen scooped up to 600,000 tonnes of the fish out of the sea every year which was depleting stocks rapidly, jeopardizing cod as a species. CBC's Reg Sherren returns to Newfoundland 25 years later to find out if the cod have recovered and what it means for those who earn a living on the sea.

Critical Thinking Questions

  1. Briefly outline the crisis in the cod fisheries of 1992, and summarize the general state of cod stock today in Newfoundland. Has anything changed?
  2. What should scientists do today, in your opinion, with respect to fish quotas in Newfoundland?

 

Video 2: Serapio, Michael (host). Lobster wars: Nova Scotia’s fishery dispute [video]. Toronto, ON: CBC/Radio-Canada (Curio); 2020 Dec.

Link       https://curio.ca/en/video/lobster-wars-nova-scotias-fishery-dispute-25687/.

  • Registration and login required for access. Curio is free to most faculty and students of Canadian post-secondary institutions.

Length  13 minutes 46 seconds

Short summary/description

  •   This video provides context for the lobster conflict in Nova Scotia. Indigenous and non-Indigenous lobster fishers in Nova Scotia are locked in a dispute over the right to fish. Members of the Sipekne'katik First Nation say that the Mi’kmaq people are within their rights to catch and sell lobster to earn a “moderate livelihood” as outlined by a 21-year-old Supreme Court Marshall decision. But non-Indigenous fishers say they are breaking the law by fishing out of season and selling their catch. The conflict between the two sides escalated in September 2020 when hundreds of Mi'kmaq traps were hauled from the water, two lobster pounds that had been holding their catches were ransacked — one while two Mi'kmaw fishermen were barricaded inside — and one pound was later burned to the ground.

Critical Thinking Questions

  1. What is the significance of the Marshall decision with respect to the Mi’kmaq fisheries in Nova Scotia?
  2. Why is the term “moderate livelihood” contentious with respect to the Supreme Court decision?

 

Video 3: Solman, P. How U.S. - China trade war is pushing lobster profit to Canada [video]. PBS Newshour; 2019 Sep 12.

Link       https://www.pbs.org/video/making-sense-1568323184/.

Length  8 minutes 38 seconds

Short summary/description

  •   This video outlines trade tensions between the U.S. and China tied to political issues, and in New England, tariffs are reducing lobster profits. Lobstering is a $1.5 billion industry that helps keep Maine’s economy afloat. But due to China’s retaliatory 25 percent tariff on U.S. crustaceans, it is Canada that is gaining the competitive edge.

Critical Thinking Questions

  1. How did lobster profit become a consequence of a trade war in Canada in 2019?
  2. Which countries are the main market for Canadian lobster export?
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