Bavington’s new book to be released at the end of May

Managed Annihilation:An Unnatural History of the Newfoundland Cod Collapse.

Dr. Bavington’s book, which will be available near the end of May 2010, discusses the once extremely successful commercial cod fishery in Newfoundland and Labrador. After the cod industry collapsed in 1992- causing the largest single day lay-off in Canadian history and detrimental ecological damage- many pointed to errors in fish stock management and careless harvesting by fishermen as the culprits.

The aim of Bavington’s book is to expose that the collapse of the fishery only occured after it had been entirely state managed and that even after 20 years the industry has still not recovered. Bavington expresses that even though the collapse has caused scientists and policy makers to question their abilities to predict and control nature, the desire and attempt to control it has not waivered. The only changes that have been made are the methods used in their attempt to control nature.