February,1958 Fe&ST ' F X S Sasfea- £ ~' 3I
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I' - February,1958 fe&ST ' f X S SaSfea- £ ~' 3i « V x CSaCT Ttodefa gag r 3 && ï " L - ~.S m^ ,V P U B L I S H E D M O N T H L Y B Y T H E D E P A R T M E N T O F F I S H E R I E S O F C A N A D A N T E N T S VOL. 10 NO. 8 FEATURES Canada 's Atlantic Sealfishery 3 Halifax Now Main Centre .. 7 Studies of Fishery Resources 9 Canadian Fisheries Production , May -December , 1957 13 CANADIAN FISHERIES NEWS ? Fishery Figures For December 13 Intensive Study of Metal Lobster Traps 15 Halibut Commission Meets •V 15 Fur Seal Investigation !i 19 Maritimes Area Meeting 20 Atlantic Salmon Meeting . 20 Salt Assistance Programme 21 Skeena River Programme 21 FISHERIES NEWS FROM ABROAD s - -:v :: Co -operatives in Fisheries Development 22 Fishing Vessel Conference . 22 ; CURRENT READING 23 COVER PHOTOGRAPH : Death o f a s e a l e r . Last of a line of * steam -driven wooden -walls that hunted seals 'mid northern ice - floes , the S.S. Eagle goes down with all flags flying off St. John 's, Newfoundland The vessel , . owned by Bowring Brothers , Ltd • » had outlived her usefulness and was deliberately given to the sea . (See stories commencing Page 3. ) The contents of TRADE NEWS have not been copyrighted and may be reprinted although refer - ence to the source would be appreciated. For further information regarding TRADE NEWS write to the Director of information and Educational Service, Department of Fisheries, Ottawa, Canada / Canada's Atlantic Sealfishery The Newfoundland sealer "Algerine" in heavy floes By BRUCE WOODLAND on the "Northern Front". Recent Years Have Witnessed a New Trend in Canadian Sealing Operations on The Atlantic. In Newfoundland, Traditional Home of The Sealhunt, The Sealing Fleet Has Declined While in Nova Scotia a Fleet Has Emerged. The Old And The New Are Told Below. HE DAYS WHEN St. John's, Newfoundland, was merce of Newfoundland. During the past 150 years, regarded as the sealing capital of the world most of the big commercial firms in St. John's out- Thave ended with the severing of an historic asso- fitted ships for the seal hunt, and the last of them ciation with the sealfishery by Bowring Brothers, was Bowring's. Now, only small firms or private Limited. A brief advertisement in the St. John's individuals remain to finance the very speculative daily papers in January offered for sale the motor industry. The Bowring firm was directly involved v e s s els "Algerine" and "Terra Nova," the last in the seal hunt for nearly a century and a half, as sealing ships still in the possession of the Bowring it began to outfit sailing vessels for the fishery firm. shortly after the business was organized in 1811. Derek Bowring, one of the directors, ex- The terrific impact of the sealfishery upon plained the decision to sell the ships in these words: the economy and life of Newfoundland in the 18th "We are giving up the sealfishery. It's simply a and 19th centuries is almost unbelievable. Captain question of economics; the cost of maintaining the Abram Kean, the greatest sealer of them all, put it seal hunt is way out of proportion to the returns." this way in the Book of Newfoundland (1937): "I am He said that it was an unhappy decision to make, clearly, ,convinced that we are more indebted to the but a logic al one. Even in 1956, when both the sealfishery for the early settlement of Newfoundland "Algerine" and "Terra Nova" s e cur e d excellent than for any other industry. When large boats were catches, the firm's profit was only in the vicinity of built to go after the seals, the demand for labour in $5,000. On that basis, the 1957 hunt, a failure for the winter months for the building of boats and(pro- all ships, must have resulted in a fairly substantial viding) other material for the sealing outfit dealt a loss. Mr. Bowring pointed out that the "raw fur- death-blow to the diehards who could see nothing riers", the skins used in the fur industry, have not but a summer fishery!" advanced in price since 1938, and these make up 60 per cent of the average catch. The price of seal oil The effect of the sealfishery upon the early has managed to keep pace with rising costs, but 19th century inhabitants is also noted in Chafe's whereas the "fat" was at one time the prime rea- Sealing Book, the finest compendium of sealing in- son for the seal hunt,. today it rates only as a by- formation in print: "Previous to 1800, nearly all product. returned home in the fall, but when the ship seal- The Bowring firm's decision to quit the seal- fishery started this population remained in the fishery brings to a close a colourful era inthe C. - c ountr y and built up permanent settlements. It changed the social habits of the people. Formerly, Mr. Woodland is Area Information Of- the winter was the season of carnival, dancing, ficer of the Department of Fisheries of Canada, drinking and playing cards from house to house for stationed at St. John's, Newfoundland. those who had money to spend, and a season of -3- wretchedness and destitution for those who had done poorly at the fishery". Available records indicate that the sealfishery was initially carried on from April to June by people who either remained over the winter in New- foundland (actually forbidden by law until 1811) or else came back to their fishing stations early. In the early 1700's, it was almost wholly a shore fish- ery; the seals were caught by single nets or by a trap. The latter method, according to the descrip- tion given by a Lieut. Chappell, R.N., was "the most approved in the Straits of Belle Isle. Strong nets were moored running from the beach into the sea, reaching from the bottom to the surface. Smaller nets were sunk to the bottom. The fisher- men then used their best efforts to drive the seals between the outer net and the beach. On a given The intense interest manifested in the departure of signal, the people on the shore hove up the small the sealers from St. John's each spring was re- nets and the seals became enclosed on all sides." flected in the crowds who lined the wharves to bid "good luck" to the crews. EARLY FLEET It was not until the late 17th century that large order to get back, after a few days in the ice, the boats were used extensively in the hunt for seals. plan was to steer northwest until they sighted Bac- Magistrate Bland of Bonavista informed Governor calieu. This was the source of an old seaman's Gambier in 1802 that only for nine years had large proverb, "Wherever you are steer northwest for boats been used in the sealfishery. The first boats Baccalieu". Skippers, it is reported, sometimes were open shallops, or "ice-skiffs". The first missed not only Baccalieu Island, but also New- decked sealing vessel, according to the record, was foundland itself. the "Sarah Kemp," which prosecuted the sealfishery from Freshwater, Carbonear, in 1794. In the early In 1862 or 1863, steamships were used for 1800's, many of these small craft engaged in the the first time in the sealfishery. Some historians sealfishery, which was growing rapidly in import- say these were introduced by Harvey and Co. Ltd., ance. In 1804, 140 vessels averaging less than 30 of St. John's, while others contend that the first tons each and carrying a total of 1, 639 men, caught originated from Scotland. For several years, Scot- 81,000 seals. In the same year, 25 vessels were tish firms sent ships to the Newfoundland icefields lost. Until the 1840's, nearly every ship engaged and had premises in St. John's for the processing in the sealfishery was built in Newfoundland. The of seal oil. Their ships were skippered by Scottish fishery in those days was almost exclusively a com- captains but carried Newfoundland crews. In the munity operation: each community built and manned short space of 12 years sailing ships disappeared its own sealing vessels, and then processed the from the sealfishery altogether and much of the catch. In 1840, 631 ships, the largest number ever, glamour went with them. sailed for the icefields from various Newfoundland ports. It was not long before steel ships became part of the fleet. The advent of the "ironclads" proved Larger vessels became the vogue around this a source of disaster in certain instances as the time, and brigs, brigantines and barques became skippers of wooden vessels, in their anxiety to keep the mainstay of the fleet. By 1857, probably be- up with the new ships, pushed their craft so hard cause of the increase in the average size of the that they broke them up in the attempt to force them ships, the fleet had dropped to 400. But 13,000 through the ice. This was indicative of the compet- men took part in "the greatest hunt in the world" itive spirit that always prevailed in the sealfishery. which, as a marine resource in Newfoundland, was Old captains would scorn the very idea of steaming second only to the codfishery for many years. The along in the wake of another ship, no matter how sealers were landing an average of half a million heavy the going.