1.   Cod stocks in the North Atlantic have dropped radically.

2.   The crisis occurs against a background of rapid declines in cod stocks in European waters.

3.   Area closings to protect cod stocks, primarily in the inshore waters between Cape Cod and southern Maine, have left them nowhere to fish.

4.   But then came the disastrous collapse of North Atlantic cod stocks, which put tens of thousands of Newfoundlanders out of work.

5.   However, cod stocks in the Gulf of Maine have not.

6.   Scientists see Gulf of Maine cod stocks continuing to collapse.

7.   When cod stocks first showed signs of trouble, fishermen moved to dogfish until it was endangered.

8.   While these efforts have had some success on Georges Bank, concern has risen recently over scallop fishing and about collapsing cod stocks in the Gulf of Maine.

9.   Overfishing and a burgeoning population of cod-eating seals have been cited as possible reasons for the collapse of cod stocks.

10.   Danish, English and Dutch fleets also stand to be hit by restrictions to protect the shrinking cod stocks.