On the Waterfront – January 2017
MFU Executive Secretary Dies in Traffic Accident
The Executive Secretary of the Maritime Fishermen’s Union (MFU) was one of two men killed in a Dec. 5 head-on collision on Route 11 in Lower Newcastle, N.B.
Police reported that Christian Brun, 46, of Cormier Village was the driver of a car that collided with a car driven by a 69-year-old man from Miscou, N.B.
Brun was involved in the fishery since 2004, initially as a coordinator during a period of structural change at the Maritime ...
Dreamboat Turned Nightmare – Part V
Captain Byron Oxford and his eight-man crew survived a harrowing ordeal after the fishing vessel Atlantic Charger sank south of Baffin Island in September 2015.
For some of the survivors, the experience will haunt them forever. Captain Oxford said he battled anxiety while at sea for several months after the incident.
For the vessel’s owner, his battle was different and started after the loss of the Charger.
For nearly nine months following the loss of his vessel, Brad Watkins dealt ...
North Atlantic Fish & Workboat Show 2016
Record-Breaking Attendance at Fifth Anniversary Edition of Commercial Marine Event
The fifth edition of the North Atlantic Fish & Workboat Show took place November 18 and 19 at Mile One Centre in St. John’s, Newfoundland.
Held biennially, the 2016 edition of this all-encompassing commercial marine event featured more than 100 exhibitors with boats, engines, electronics, supplies, safety gear, fish processing equipment and services for commercial fishermen and other workboats.
“...
Miniboat Regatta Exposes High School Students to the Ocean
Schools and organizations in nine countries around the Atlantic Ocean are launching miniboats for the annual Atlantic Regatta which aims to strengthen students’ knowledge in marine science.
Amongst them are students from Mobile Central High School in Mobile, N.L. — the only Canadian team taking part in this year’s The Once Around Regatta.
The Regatta organized by Educational Passages in Maine, U.S., sees students launch unmanned miniboats equipped with GPS tracking devices into the ...
Trump Trade Threats May Not Amount to Much
The election of Donald Trump as president of the most powerful country in the world wasn’t an isolated incident, as other countries — especially in Europe — blazed the trail by electing people opposing global trade agreements and wide open immigration policies.
Great Britain led the way with its opposition to the European Union and voted narrowly to opt out of the organization.
France and Germany also have ultra-right wingers vying for top political offices, with free trade arrang...
Twine Loft – January 2017
Passed On: Robert Truckair – Glace Bay, N.S. Fisherman
Truckair passed away November 16 at the Glace Bay Hospital with loving family at his side. Born in Glace Bay he was the son of Lambert and Elsie (MacLeod) Truckair. Truckair was a self-employed boat captain/fisherman, fishing all over the coasts of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. He was a member of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 3 and the Glace Bay Harbour Authority. He started fishing on his own at the age of 16, where he fished lobster ...
Eelgrass Nursery School for Juvenile Cod
As a child growing up beside the sea in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Bob Gregory spent a lot of time in tide pools with his friends.
They would jump and splash through strands of green plants they’d call grass or weeds.
“My mother jokes that when I was a little kid, I used to say I wanted to be a nature scientist. In grade one, I couldn’t spell ‘nature scientist,’ when I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up. She told me that I wrote down, ‘milkman,’ simply because I could ...
No Friend of Poachers
Larry Rumbolt can’t remember when he started fishing, but clearly remembers when he became a full-fledged crewmember and was paid a share of the season’s catch of cod and salmon.
The year was 1979 and Larry was 10 years old. His skipper was his dad, Charl (Charles) Rumbolt and his other boat mate was his 12-year-old brother Carlton.
The fishing season in Mary’s Harbour, Labrador was perfectly timed for schoolboys like Larry. Cod and salmon migrated to inshore coastal waters in late ...
2016: Predicting the Unpredictable
Many industry prognosticators have claimed the Atlantic Canadian fishery each year has become rather predictable.
It has been said that, depending on the particular month of the year, predicting a particular issue or crisis in the fishery has become almost like clockwork — and in the past, there might have been some truth in that conjecture.
But that theory did not exactly hold water in 2016. The last 12 months were filled with enough twists, turns and surprises to keep many a wannabe ...
