Will Coalition’s Funding Plea be Answered?
Everyone involved in some capacity with the Atlantic Canada fishery knows that the industry has ebbs and flows each year.
As a particular fishing season looms on the horizon, chatter, speculation and arguments always seem to surface, almost like clockwork. Just look at what recently happened with snow crab in Newfoundland. And the Northern shrimp fishery has certainly not been immune to these disputes in the past.
But this year, things have been strangely quiet in the lead up to the 2020 ...
The Twine Loft – July 2020
Passed On: Garfield Warren – Cook’s Harbour, N.L. fisherman
Warren, 79, passed away on May 31. Born on March 19, 1941, he was a respected, hardworking inshore fisherman all of his life. Upon retiring from the fishery, along with spending time with family and friends, he loved growing vegetables in his garden. Always known for his quick wit and ability to tell a story, he will be missed by all those that had the pleasure of knowing him.
Passed On: Eddie Norman – St. Lawrence, N.L. ...
Glovertown Boatbuilder Bob Davis Remembered
Above: Bob Davis with his good friend and colleague Michele Babstock.
For 40 years, Robert (Bob) Davis has been synonymous with the Glovertown Shipyard in northeastern Newfoundland, both as an owner and in his retirement years, project advisor.
Davis died unexpectedly on April 22 after a brief illness, joining his wife Beverly who had passed away just the month before. The couple had been married for 46 years. Davis is fondly remembered as a mentor, a neighbour and a great friend by ...
On the Waterfront – July 2020
Another N.B. Lobster Plant Gutted by Fire
A May 21 fire completely destroyed a large seafood processing plant in northeastern New Brunswick.
The lobster processing plant, Les Pêcheries de Chez Nous was located in Val-Comeau, a small coastal community in the regional municipality of Tracadie.
The blaze broke out shortly before 3 p.m. and took firefighters about three-and-a-half hours to get under control.
“The plant is a total loss,” he said.
He said the plant was in production ...
A Call for Patience and Empathy in a Fishery Dealing with COVID-19
This letter is in response to Gabe Gregory’s May 4 letter, Fish union’s delay tactics appalling.
Contrary to Gregory’s assertions, fish-processing companies are not operating during the COVID-19 crisis under some noble sense of duty to the province or nation and they are certainly not sacrificing for the greater good.
Fish processing companies are doing what they’ve always done — trying to maximize profit and impose greater control over the inshore fishery in this province.
...
Re-Examining DFO Basics
“If you always do what you’ve always done, you'll always get what you’ve always got.”
An old trite saying perhaps, but still profoundly true. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) needs to seriously consider altering two of its long-held beliefs/practices in light of obvious changes in the ecosystem and failed attempts to produce a recovery of our cod stocks.
We do not need to go back and revisit the failures of the past. There are enough current examples of continued ...
Fishermen and Right Whales in the Gulf of St. Lawrence
Above: Some of the ropeless technology being tested during seas trials.
Ropeless Traps Starting this Year
In the coming weeks, the 400 or so remaining North Atlantic right whales (NARW) will gradually arrive in our waters, under the watchful eye of several organizations, ENGOs, scientists and governments.
The reason for all this interest is the risk of entanglement that may be posed by the fixed fishing gear used to catch crab and lobster. Protecting right whales from the ...
The Changing Face of Seafood Distribution
Like so many other businesses, the core business of major U.S. seafood distributors has been upended by the COVID-19 pandemic.
We all know how restaurants, hotels and casinos and amusement parks shut down. And food service seafood sales have fallen anywhere from 30 to 98 per cent, depending on the type of venue and offering.
I have been wrestling with what this might mean for our industry. The only certainty I have is that we won’t go back to the way things were before.
The restaur...
Predictability
Predictability is the degree to which a prediction, forecast or expectation is likely to come true.
It is the foundation on which all plans are made. Unless there is a reasonable expectation of predictability, a plan has little chance of becoming reality.
About 30 years ago, the U.S Army War College developed the idea that we increasingly live in a world that is volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous — or VUCA, for short. According to that view, we hope for certainty in a world that ...
Tragedy in St. Lawrence
Four Lives Lost with Sinking of Fishing Vessel Sarah Anne
The community of St. Lawrence, Newfoundland has seen its share of tragedy down through the years.
Residents of the close-knit Burin Peninsula town witnessed firsthand the tragic aftermath of the deadly tsunami of 1929. Then there was the loss of more than 200 American sailors when the USS Truxtun and USS Pollux went aground off St. Lawrence in February 1942. And spanning several generations are the hundreds of local miners ...
