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.
“This was definitely the strongest event in the history of the show,” said Shawn Murphy, Show Manager.
“With 3,837 qualified visitors over the two days of the show — an increase of about 20 per cent over 2014 numbers — attendance was just excellent, particularly on Friday. Many new and innovative products were featured, and I heard that lots of sales were taking place right on the show floor.”
“The North Atlantic Fish & Workboat Show was an extremely well attended show and one of the rare events where we always make firm sales,” said Jim Hall with eSonar, an exhibitor at the show. “We look forward to the next edition in 2018.”
“Very professional. Great atmosphere. Excellent attendance. Great show,” added Scott Mercer, Mercer’s Marine Equipment Ltd., another 2016 exhibitor.
As part of the event, deserving individuals were inducted into the Atlantic Canada Marine Industries Hall of Fame. This recognition pays a lasting tribute to those who have made valuable contributions in any sector of the marine industry. Awards are given in three categories: mariner, processor and builder.
The mariner category recognizes individuals who have made a significant contribution at sea in any marine field — this could include anyone from a captain or crewmember on anything from fishing boats to cargo ships to oil tankers to Coast Guard and all points in between.
The processor category recognizes individuals involved in the business of processing/developing marine products from fish and seafood to oil and gas, including everyone from frontline workers right up to company owners.
And finally, the builder category recognizes those individuals who have made significant contributions to any of Atlantic Canada’s marine industries without having necessarily directly participated in them (including, but not limited to, industry advocates, organizers, service providers, marine builders, business people, media, government, etc…)
The 2016 Newfoundland and Labrador inductees were:
- Rufus Genge from Anchor Point (Mariner)
- Patrick Quinlan from Bay de Verde (Processor)
- Frederick Jackson from Whiteway (Builder)
Rufus Genge
The Genge family has been harvesting the waters off Newfoundland’s Northern Peninsula for 200 years and Anchor Point fisherman Rufus Genge has been on the water for 70 of those. Rufus was born in Flower’s Cove in 1937. His father and grandfather were fishermen — fishing was in Rufus’ blood. In fact, it was with his grandfather Field in Cook’s Harbour that Rufus started fishing full-time at age 10.
The young Genge cut his teeth on the codtrap fishery. But always the entrepreneur, Rufus was anxious to start fishing on his own and acquired his first boat, a punt or rodney, and built his own stage at age 17. Shortly after marrying his lovely wife Sophia, Rufus continued to expand his fishing enterprise. He later moved from a trapskiff to a speedboat and would fish out of Cook’s Harbour in June and July and would then travel to Belle Isle and fish there from August to October. He also fished out of Battle Harbour, Labrador for several years.
Rufus was always looking to the future and analyzing how he could grow as a fisherman. This culminated in 1972 when he had the Cape Onion built — a 52-foot longliner — one of the first on the Northern Peninsula. Rufus’s oldest son Ted, who was fishing with his father at this time, said this was a major step forward. The new vessel allowed them to fish more species and for longer periods of time. But Rufus did not stop there. In 1977, he sold the Cape Onion and built the 65-foot Cape Ray to facilitate dragging. And then, in 1987, the elder Genge upgraded his enterprise again when he built another 65-foot dragger, the Tracey Martina.
The fishing industry is constantly changing and part of Rufus Genge’s legacy was the foresight to recognize the changes, adapt to them and succeed in a very challenging occupation. His legacy in the fishery of Newfoundland’s Northern Peninsula also lives on through his family — his sons Ted and Bruce, as well as his grandsons Rodney and Raymond, all operate successful, growing fishing enterprises of their own.
Speaking of growth, Rufus was actively involved when the Genge family built the state-of-the-art 65-foot fishing vessel KMKA Voyager in 2006. Most recently, in 2016, the elder Genge witnessed the latest addition to the family fleet, when the 70-foot KMKA Voyager 1 slipped into waters from the shipyard in Englee. Rufus Genge’s fishing legacy is destined to live on for many years to come.
Patrick Quinlan
Pat Quinlan was born in Red Head Cove in November, 1929 — the youngest of seven children in the family of Patrick and Alice Quinlan. Throughout Pat’s life, he received many accolades and awards within the local community, however, Pat is not a person who seeks accolades. It is as owner, manager, president and CEO of Quinlan Brothers Limited that Pat leaves his mark on the fishing industry of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Living next to the prolific fishing grounds of the North Atlantic, he and his brother, Maurice, decided to stake their claim at Bay de Verde. In 1954, they bought J F O’Neil Ltd. — an enterprise consisting of a general store and the buying and selling of dried and salt bulk cod. Here Quinlan Brothers Limited began its 62 years in the seafood business. It was with the swing of a pick axe at the walls of stone that surrounded them that Pat and Maurice carved and etched out the first foundations of a small building to produce cod at Bay de Verde.
The business grew from there, expanding into fresh and frozen fish production and then to marketing their products under the “Q” brand that is so well recognized today. Pat was the first to introduce and assist the local fishermen to move into larger long-liners when he brought the first such vessel to Bay de Verde in 1964. Many more followed and the product range expanded to include all the species harvested by inshore fishers. During the late 1960s and early 70s, the cod resource declined sharply and Quinlan Brothers then entered the snow crab business.
The learning curve was steep and before long he and Maurice had persevered to build a crab plant and market a crab product that was second to none. Following the collapse of the groundfish industry in the early 1990s, Quinlan’s became the first to venture into the shrimp business on the north east coast of the island by acquiring a plant from Denmark and establishing it at home.
Quinlan Brothers Limited was buying and processing shrimp just as the resource was made available to the inshore fishery in 1997. Pat Quinlan does not know the meaning of “it can’t be done.” Negativity is nowhere in his character. He was always the most industrious and energetic person in the fishery. He knew everybody in the plant as well as every fishermen and he spoke to them all as equals. He respected their hard work and spent a lifetime re-investing everything back into the fishery. Unfortunately, a fire destroyed everything Pat built at Bay de Verde on April 11, 2016. The fire took with it years of hard labour and a host of memories.
But true to who Pat is — a new larger modern plant is well on its way to replacing it all — it is a monument to Pat and all those who have worked with him. Bay de Verde will always have a special place in the heart of the most industrious person ever in the history of the Newfoundland fishery.
Frederick Jackson
Frederick Jackson was born on January 26, 1937 in the small community of Whiteway, Trinity Bay. He is husband to Beulah Cooper and a proud father of five children. Frederick or Fred is now known as Whiteway’s boat builder to many, but things didn’t start that way.
From railway tracks to mink ranching and fishing, Fred did it all and it carried him through the 1950s and 60s. In 1971, he took a new journey and had a boat built for him to fish — a 52-foot, small inshore dragger. In September of 1976, Fred sold this boat to build another for himself on his own.
In his backyard, Fred built a 34’ 11” wooden boat and only used her one summer on the water. Once again, he sold that boat and decided to pursue a different career as a full-time boat builder.
With a demand in the area for fishermen wanting new boats, Fred thought, “why not give it a try?” With the second boat built in his backyard, he then moved to the current Jackson’s Boatyard location in 1978.
Jackson’s Boatyard started with three employees and quickly went up to six. As the years went on, the Jackson’s Boatyard staff grew, with as many as 42 employees working at one point.
Jackson’s Boatyard specializes in wooden to fibreglass fishing vessels. From 1977 to the early 1990s, wooden boats were built, then wooden boats fibreglassed over. In 2001, fibreglass panels were used to build vessels.
Jackson’s Boatyard symbols can be found on many boats around the Island of Newfoundland and the Labrador Coast, ranging from 28 to 65 feet in length.
While Fred has not been an active boat builder since 2006, now, just shy of turning 79-years-old, he still makes daily trips to the yard to watch and inspect the ongoing boat construction.
Congratulations as well to Cass Barry, the show’s door prize winner. Barry has won a Boden jacket from Helly Hansen (valued at $500) plus a $500 Canadian Tire gift certificate and gift basket, compliments of McInnes Cooper.
Alvin Petten was the lucky winner of the exclusive Passport Program Prize Showcase, all new for this year’s edition of the show.
All visitors who pre-registered before November 10 were mailed a passport ballot; by bringing the ballot with them to the show and having it stamped by the participating sponsors, they were eligible to enter to win a prize showcase valued at more than $5,000.
Thank you to the prize showcase sponsors: Oil Filtration Solutions, Globalstar, Stright-Mackay Ltd., Turbo Expert, Mackay Marine, The Wooden Boat Museum of Newfoundland and Labrador, Mills Pittman & Twyne and Spartan Marine.
The North Atlantic Fish & Workboat Show would not be possible without the ongoing support of its presenting sponsor: The Navigator, Murphy said.
Next up is the Eastern Canadian Fisheries Exposition in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, taking place February 3-4, 2017 at the Mariners Centre; visit www.ecfx.ca for details.
