The summer of 1981, when competition for cod was fierce

In this archival episode of Land & Sea from 1981, Dave Quinton and the crew visitNewtown, Bonavista Bay.

It's a picturesque town that is often featured in tourism photos and campaigns because of its iconic churches,large homes andthe Barbour Living Heritage Village.

Newtown was settled during the 1800s when families came in from surrounding placessuch as Pinchard's Island.

Close to a shallow fishing ground, the small-boat fishers of Newtown often dealt withrough seasbut in this episode, they have another challengelongliners from other bays, with a larger capacity to fish.

This episode was filmed in the summer of 1981, when the inshore cod fishery was still being worked by men in small boats. But that summer, cod were scarce elsewhere and longliners had moved onto Newtown's shallow fishing grounds.

Frustration wasbuilding for some of the locals who relied on gillnets. Somewere calling for a buffer zoneto keep the larger boats out.

The show also touches on outmigration and how a new salmon and lobster licensing system was preventing people from coming home from jobs on the mainland to re-enter the fishery.

The events that played out in Newtownduring the summer of 1981 foretold some of the pressures that would lead tothe collapse of the cod fishery and the moratorium of 1992.

The episode ends in October, when the crew goes back to Newtown for the annual Harvest Festival.

Celebrated in the church, the bounty of BonavistaBay adorns the altarsalt cod, partridgeberries, baked goods, preserves, carrots, partridges and rabbits.

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