Letter to the Editor – Farewell to a Dear Friend
It’s a very sad day for me as I am writing this tribute to a very dear friend of mine and a friend and ambassador to all the fishing industry on the Northeast coast of Canada.
When I returned to the fishery in 1976, Gus Etchegary was a well-known name in the fishing industry because of his connection with the largest fish company, Fishery Products.
It was after the moratorium that I got to meet Gus when Cross Country Checkup did a live show in St. John’s, hosted by Rex Murphy. I had ...
The Man With a Fish on His Back: A Tribute to N.L.’s Finest Fish Warrior — Augustine (Gus) Etchegary, May 28, 1929 – May 7, 2023
In 1884, an ad for Scott’s Emulsion cod liver oil featured a captivating picture of a stooped man carrying a whopper of a Norwegian cod, nearly as big as he is.
Here, in Newfoundland and Labrador, we had our very own man bearing a weighty fish on his back. He went by the name of Augustine Etchegary — better known as “Gus.”
Symbolically, and with passionate fervour and articulation, Gus carried the N.L. codfish, its light and its fight, for close to six decades.
This Basque ...
Gus Etchegary: “A Key Figure in the Story of Newfoundland”
At 98 years old, Gus Etchegary, an industry giant and a long-time advocate for Newfoundland and Labrador’s fishing industry, passed away on May 7.
Etchegary was born on May 28, 1924, in St. Lawrence on Newfoundland’s Burin Peninsula. In his nearly 99 years of life, Etchegary witnessed many of the historic events that make N.L. the province it is today — from N.L. becoming a Canadian province in 1949 to the cod moratorium of 1992.
The story of the Etchegary family in Newfoundland ...
Why Isn’t DFO Managing the Deplorable State of the St. Pierre Bank Fishery?
Recently, there was a Zoom meeting between representatives of the FFAW, the offshore operators and others with respect to the deplorable state of the St. Pierre Bank fishery (3PS).
That cod resource, which had a quota of 70,100 metric tonnes (MTs) when Canada extended fisheries jurisdiction to 200 miles in 1978, is now at 1,300 tonnes.
Several fishing operators from the mainland, trawlers from Newfoundland and Labrador and many inshore operators have been fishing there since 1978. The ...
PM Should Honour his Father’s Fish Promise
A provincial fishery advocacy group, the Fishery Community Alliance (FCA), is calling upon Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to honour a commitment made by his father in 1971, as a way to help protect and rebuild depleted fish stocks off Newfoundland and Labrador that belong to the Canadian people.
I was part of a team of fishery advocates from 14 groups, the Save Our Fishery Association (SOFA), which undertook a mission to Ottawa in October 1971, to highlight the politically motivated decisions ...
A Very Sordid Fish Tale
Grab a seat and I will share with you a fishy tale that haunts our shores.
To begin with, Newfoundland and Labrador was once a major fish exporting nation. In fact, when we joined Confederation in 1949, our abundant fish resource elevated Canada from 14th place in the world as a fish-exporting nation to 6th.
Today, we have hit rock bottom when it comes to the fishery. Canada has not rebuilt our fish resource, despite approaching 30 years after a devastating groundfish moratorium.
We ...
Our Fishery is Not Only Neglected, But for Sale
Imagine our centuries-old fishery taken over by a foreign country.
Imagine a minister of fisheries representing our province’s interest rubber-stamping this proposal.
Imagine the recommendation coming from a five-member, all-male board with little experience.
The unimaginable above is truly our reality for our iconic industry.
Denmark recently bought interests in the Newfoundland and Labrador fisheries, with the aim to now purchase additional fishing companies. Those Newfoundland ...
