Nicknamed the Rock, independent-spirited Newfoundland resisted federation until 1949, when it joined mainland Labrador to become the newest province. By the early 1990s overharvesting had depleted the cod around Grand Banks, one of the world's richest fisheries for 500 years. In 1992 the government imposed a moratorium on cod fishing, and hundreds of fishermen were put out of work. Energy and mining projects along Canada's Atlantic coast have recently brought modest economic growth, including pumping oil from the Hibernia oil field. Population declines have stabilized and the unemployment rate has continued to slowly drop.