Off the northeastern shore of North America, from the island of Newfoundland in Canada south
to New England in the United States, there is a series of shallow areas called banks, Several large
banks off Newfoundland are together called the Grand Banks, huge shoals on the edge of the North
America continental shelf, where the warm waters of the Gulf Stream, meet the cold waters of the
Labrador Current. As the currents brush each other, they stir up minerals from the ocean floor,
providing nutrients for plankton and tiny shrimp-like creatures called krill, which feed on the plankton.
Herring and other small fish rise to the surface to eat the krill. Groundfish, such as the Atlantic cod, live
in the ocean’s bottom layer, congregating in the shallow waters where they prey on krill and small fish.
This rich environment has produced cod by the millions and once had a greater density of cod than
anywhere else on Earth.