The cod moratorium was a policy from the Canadian government that placed an indefinite ban on the fishing of Northern Cod. This was a response to the overfishing of cod and the moratorium hoped to allow the fish population to recover however it also put around 30,000 Newfoundlanders out of work and effectively shut down the industry. As a result of this many people from Newfoundland and the Maritimes were forced to look elsewhere for work and oil sands have become a common destination for maritime workers. The moratorium remains in place to this day.