 They made possible the targeting of large and fast-swimming whale species that were taken to shore-based stations for processing.The invention of the harpoon cannon in the 1860s and the westward expansion of the Scandinavian industry that resulted from the rapid depletion of their local stocks resulted in the emergence of the modern whaling industry off Newfoundland and Labrador.The industry was highly cyclical, with well-defined catch peaks in 1903–05, 1925–30, 1945–51, and 1966–72, after which world-wide bans shut it down.