OTTAWA – The Canadian government may close most of the remaining Atlantic cod fishery and has no plans to compensate the thousands of industry workers who would be affected.

Officials were expected to deliver a bleak report on cod stocks to the four Atlantic provinces and Quebec this week. A decision on a shutdown is expected in March.

“Fisheries are at low levels, and while overall impact of possible closures will be less than in 1992, consequences for individuals and certain areas will be significant,” says a federal briefing document obtained by The Canadian Press.

“Potential closures will be long in duration and will be accompanied by biological criteria for reopening to avoid annual debates based on marginal changes in stock status.”

Newfoundland was devastated in 1992 by a moratorium on its northern cod fishery, which affected nearly 20,000 fishermen and plant workers in the province – 40,000 regionwide.

Other fishing opportunities don’t exist in the most affected areas where cod is still being caught, says the document prepared for provincial officials, who were to be briefed in Montreal on Thursday.

Almost 4,000 Atlantic fishermen are licensed to take cod, though more than 3,000 of them made less than $3,000 annually from the fish that was once the backbone of the regional economy.

About 900 licensed fishermen are considered “cod-dependent,” earning between $3,000 and $200,000 a year from that species, the document says.

The majority are from Newfoundland, and significant numbers come from Quebec’s lower north shore.

“In the rest of the areas, including New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia, there are fewer license holders that rely on cod,” says the document.

Ottawa is still conducting an economic impact analysis, but some federal politicians say the government document grossly underestimates the impact of a shutdown.

Bill Matthews, a Newfoundland Liberal member of Parliament, estimated total layoffs could be 11,000 direct jobs and between 20,000 and 25,000 people indirectly. He said many affected communities are already depleted and a closure could be their deathblow.

“How much more distressing can the news be than that?” he asked. “The government would be very wise to reconsider this.”