Georges Bank

Georges Bank is a large shallow submarine plateau located approximately 75 miles east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and extending toward Nova Scotia. It covers an area of roughly 10,000 square miles, with waters shallow enough in places to be only a few meters deep, which contributes to its extraordinary marine productivity.

Georges Bank has historically been one of the world's most productive fishing grounds, particularly for Atlantic cod, haddock, yellowtail flounder, and scallops. The bank's nutrient-rich cold waters support massive fish populations that sustained New England and Canadian fishing fleets for centuries before overfishing caused severe population crashes in the late 20th century.

Yes, the International Court of Justice resolved a longstanding U.S.-Canada maritime boundary dispute over Georges Bank in a 1984 ruling that drew a line through the Gulf of Maine. The decision allocated roughly five-sixths of the bank to the United States and the remainder to Canada, ending years of tension between American and Canadian fishing fleets.

Decades of intensive overfishing by both U.S. and Canadian fleets caused Atlantic cod stocks on Georges Bank to collapse in the early 1990s. Despite strict fishing quotas and area closures imposed by the New England Fishery Management Council, cod populations have been extremely slow to recover, and the fishery remains heavily restricted.