The cod fisheries were able to be harvested beyond their ability to recover because . View Available Hint(s) The cod fisheries were able to be harvested beyond their ability to recover because . the Canadian and U. S. governments excluded all foreign fisheries in a zone extending 200 miles around the habitat Cod were caught by large commercial trawlers with purse nets enabling a very high level of removal the Cod fisheries were tightly regulated, with catch limits imposed on all fishing vessels