Twine Loft – October 2016

Passed On: Max Forsey – Hillview, N.L. Fisherman

Forsey, 65, formerly of Fortune, passed away at the G.B. Cross Memorial Hospital in Clarenville on Wednesday, August 17, 2016. Leaving to mourn with fond and loving memories are wife, Anna Mary of 41 years; sons, Troy Forsey of Spruce Grove, AB and Travis Forsey (Lisa) of Fortune; mother, Roberta Forsey of Fortune; four grandchildren: Matthew, Mckayla, Emily and Max Forsey; his sisters, brothers, extended family and a large circle of other relatives and friends. He was predeceased by his father, Maxwell Forsey; brother, Carl Forsey; niece, Michelle Thornhill; nephew, Rodney Robere.

Passed On: Carl Atkinson – Newellton, N.S. Fisherman

Atkinson, 91, passed away on Saturday, August 27, 2016 at the Yarmouth Regional Hospital. Born in West Head on May 24, 1925, he was the son of the late Oscar and Viola (Morehouse) Atkinson. Atkinson was a veteran of the Second World War, having served in England, France and Belgium and having spent a great deal of time in Germany and Holland, where he helped in the liberation of Holland. Carl was a tank driver as a member of the First Canadian Armored Carrier Regiment, better known as the Kangaroos. He kept in touch with his billeted family in Holland following the war and was reunited with part of that family in 2010 when they came for a visit and was still in touch to this day. He was a fisherman his entire life, having owned five boats, the last of which was a 102-foot herring seiner named the Mari-Lynne Anita. He attended Stone Church and was the last charter member of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch No. 148.

Passed On: Amos Hagar – East Ragged Island, N.S. Fisherman

Hagar, 88, passed away peacefully in Queens General Hospital, Liverpool, on Friday, August 19, 2016 following a brief battle with cancer. Born at Round Bay on July 16, 1928 he was a son of the late Clayton Elliot and Ida Florence (Decker) Hagar. Hagar was a fisherman all his working life.

Passed On: Roger Hemeon – Sandy Point, N.S. Fisherman

Hemeon, 82, passed away in Roseway Hospital on Thursday, August 18, 2016. Born in Sandy Point, he was a son of the late Walter and Grace (Buchanan) Hemeon. Roger was a fisherman all of his working life. He enjoyed spending time with his family, dancing and going for Sunday drives. He was noted for a very good sense of humor. Roger loved going to the wharf every night talking to the other fishermen and working in his workshop.

Passed On: Michael Waybret – Woods Harbour, N.S. Fisherman

Waybret, 57, passed away suddenly at home on August 18, 2016. Born November 29, 1958, he was the son of the late Basil and Susan (Hatfield) Waybret. Michael was a fisherman for most of his life until his health declined forcing him to retire. Michael loved hunting and gunning and truly enjoyed going to the camp with the boys in Argyle Head.

Passed On: David Tait – Halifax, N.S. Fishing Industry Consultant and Businessman

Tait, 77, passed away on August 4, 2016 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Born in Portknockie, Scotland, Tait began his career as a fisherman at 15 on the northeast herring drifters and became a successful skipper/owner of a number of Scottish seine and midwater pair trawlers in the 1960s and early 1970s. During this time, he saw the potential in hydraulics for the fishing industry and formed his own engineering company that would take him to the Far East, Australia the Mid East and North America as a skipper, consultant and businessman. An innovator with a natural curiosity, Tait became an instrumental figure in the Canadian fishing industry and was part of one of the early group of Scottish skippers who helped modernize the Canadian fishing fleet. His work on transferring Scottish seine and midwater trawl technology in the Canadian context produced some of the top earning vessels in the Canadian Maritimes during the 1970s and 1980s.

His attention shifted to trawl gear manufacturing and he founded Nordsea Limited that would go on to became a world leader in selective fishing gear technology after the collapse of the cod fishery on the east coast of Canada in the early 1990s. Many of the commonly used technologies used in the Canadian trawl fishery were a result of Tait’s efforts. His work in Canada introduced to the inshore and midshore fleet electronic trawl monitoring equipment, balloon bottom trawls, high-lift shrimp trawls, fuel efficient steel trawl doors, rockhopper gear, square mesh/knotless selective codends, separator panels, shrimp separator grids, fuel efficient netting, twin trawls and a number of other innovations that made life for fishermen more productive and efficient.

Awarded: Dr. Larry Hammell – 2016 Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA) Merck Veterinary Award

Hammell was awarded the 2016 Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA) Merck Veterinary Award for his monumental commitment to the enhancement of a sustainable aquaculture industry through logical evidence-based decision-making and for his contributions which have directly influenced aquatic animal health policy worldwide. Dr. Hammell is recognized nationally and internationally for his contributions in aquatic epidemiology, aquatic animal health research and aquatic food animal production medicine. He is founder and co-director of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) Collaborating Center for Epidemiology and Risk Assessment for Aquatic Animal Diseases along with the National Veterinary Institute of Norway. Dr. Hammell plays an integral role on the research team that was awarded the UPEI Canada Excellence Research Chair in Aquatic Epidemiology. He has led extensive consultative and training collaborations with Norway, New Zealand, Central and South America, Southeast Asia, and across Canada. As frontrunner on the global stage, he led the development of the Disease Technical Working Group for Salmon Aquaculture Dialogue with the World Wildlife Fund and more recently has been involved in several OIE aquatic Professional Veterinary Services assessments. Dr. Hammell was one of a core group of industry and provincial veterinarians who lobbied tirelessly for two decades for the legitimization of the veterinary profession in aquatic animal health. In 2003, he was instrumental in consolidating the role of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) as lead federal agency for the National Aquatic Animal Health Program (NAAHP), which is co-delivered by the CFIA and Fisheries and Oceans Canada. As an aquatic veterinary epidemiologist, Dr. Hammell has been the lead proponent on many large, clinical research projects and partnerships with industry and government agencies. He is currently Professor and Associate Dean (Graduate Studies and Research) at the Atlantic Veterinary College (AVC), University of Prince Edward Island. He recently completed the directorship of the AVC Centre for Aquatic Health Sciences, and Innovation PEI Research Chair in Epidemiology for Aquatic Food Production. The Merck Veterinary Award, sponsored by Merck Animal Health, is presented to a veterinarian whose work in large animal practice, clinical research, or basic sciences is judged to have contributed significantly to the advancement of large animal medicine and surgery, including herd health management.