Floundering Like a Ship With No Rudder
When going through my files recently, I came across a letter from former Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Brian Peckford, dated Dec. 21, 1979, entitled Northern Cod Stocks.
One thing in that letter that really sticks out is the statement “the government of Canada is in the process of establishing the shape of things to come.”
What I can say 43 years later is things have only gotten worse with no inquiry into what happened and no plan is in place to try and restore the great cod ...
Remembering My Friend Cabot Martin
On June 21, 2023, a service was held for Cabot Martin at the St. George’s Anglican church in Petty Harbour.
Cabot’s roots were in Port aux Basques, but he spent most of his life in St. John’s. However, he never forgot the rural parts of this province and spent a lot of his time and money working for our rural communities and for the ocean that was the life blood and our reason for being here.
One of his projects was cod farming, where fisher people would catch small cod and put them ...
Remembering Harold Small
I got to know Harold Small (Feb. 13, 1936 – May 17, 2021) when the Baie Verte Development Association and the Green Bay Economic Development Association got together to plan some sort of response to Greenpeace which was trying to destroy our seal industry.
With the help of Memorial University, we were able to get some assistance to help plan and organize what turned out to later be the Canadian Sealers Association.
After about a year that was put in place, I became first treasurer of ...
A Good Luck Story
On Tuesday, March 2, 2021, a mayday was sent out from the M.V. Atlantic Destiny, with a crew of 32 on board, that the vessel was on fire.
As any mariner knows, fire is the worst thing that can happen at sea. Sometimes it doesn’t give you time to get your life jackets or survival suits on, or get a lifeboat launched. Add eight-metre seas (24 feet) and 55 knot winds (100 km/h) and you are in the worst possible situation anyone on the water can imagine.
These past 12 months have seen a lot ...
When Will We Ever Learn?
In my lifetime, I have seen many ups and downs in this province of Newfoundland and Labrador that I love very dearly.
Although it’s a harsh and unforgiving land at times, I would not want to live anywhere else.
Most of our problems in this province have been made by our politicians.
Let’s go back to the time we entered Confederation with Canada. We are still not sure if it was by choice or as Donald Trump would say, it was rigged.
When we entered Confederation, we passed over to ...
The Fishery Was and Still is Our Reason for Being Here
I recently watched Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey on Issues and Answers, NTV, Oct. 25, where he mentioned the fishery and that was the reason for us being here.
I have mentioned that statement many times in my articles to the news media and open line shows over the last 40-plus years.
The last six years, under the leadership of Premier Dwight Ball, the word fishery was barely mentioned. He did say one day when a reporter questioned him about the fishery that he knew very ...
Repeating Myself 30 Years Later
Looking back, it’s ironic the two big stories in the news the week of January 10, 2020 were the death of the Hon. John Crosbie, who was Fisheries Minister at the time of the moratorium in 1992 and now 28 years later we are told the cod stocks in the Gulf are in danger of extinction.
What have we learned in 28 years?
I think we all know the answer to that one, but for some reason the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the managers of our oceans do not seem to get it.
In the late ...
The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same
In an April 2020 press release, Karen Dwyer, cod research Scientist, Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) stated that “survey indices suggest that recently observed stock growth (C2012-2016) may have stalled ecosystems conditions, indicating limited productivity and reduced food availability limiting the growth of cod.”
Dwyer said on CBC’s The Broadcast, that cod have turned to cannibalism (eating their own) because of a lack of food, mainly capelin. When asked by host Jane Adey ...
Should There be a Fishery in Newfoundland and Labrador This Year?
The fishery is part of the food chain, the very essence of life.
We have a lot of people in this world who are starving to death and any interruptions in the food chain will only make things worse. Food gets scarce, prices skyrocket and the poor people will be the ones to suffer.
There is a lot of fear in this province and you hear it every day on radio and TV, all in an effort to get people to stay home.
Approximately 90 per cent of food in Newfoundland and Labrador comes from outside ...
Inshore Fishing Industry Loses a Steadfast Advocate
Tom Best: December 31, 1945 – March 31, 2020
Tom Best was a tireless advocate for the inshore fishery, which was once the economy driving Newfoundland and Labrador, and one of the best-known inshore fishermen in this province.
Before I met Tom, I got to know him from open line radio shows and the Fisherman’s Broadcast.
In the 1980s, when the inshore fishery started to decline, Tom like many others, saw the warning signs and the potential demise of the industry that was so important ...
