REGIONAL FIS E IES NEWS J liaRY 1970 ( 1 • Mdeit,k40 111.111111111...leit 9 DEPARTMENT OF FISHERIES OF CANADA NEWFOUNDLAND REGION REDUCTION PLANT OFFICIALLY OPENED The ne3 3/4-million NATLAKE herring reduction plant at Burgeo was officially opened January 28th by Premier J. R. Smallwood. Among special guests attending the opening ceremonies were: federal Transport Minister Don Jamieson, provincial Minister of Fisheries A. Maloney and our Regional Director, H. R. Bradley. Privately financed, the new plant is a joint effort of Spencer Lake, the Clyde Lake Group and National Sea Products of Nova Scotia. Ten herring seiners from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and British Columbia are under contract to land catches at the plant. Fifty people will be employed as production workers at the plant which will operate on a 21-hour, three shift basis. - 0 - 0 - 0 - ATTEND CAMFI CONFERENCE Four representatives of Regional Headquarters staff are attending the Conference on Automation and Mechanization in the Fishing Industry being held in Montreal February 3 - 6. The conference is sponsored by the Federal-Provincial Atlantic Fisheries Committee which is comprised of the deputy ministers responsible for fisheries in the Federal Government and the governments of Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland. The Secretariat for the conference was provided by the Industrial Development Service, Department of Fisheries and Forestry, Ottawa. Attending the conference from the Newfoundland. Region were: J. P. Hennessey, R. n. Prince, m. Barnes and E. B. Dunne. ****** ****** FROZEN TROUT RETURN TO LIFE A true story told by Bob Ebsary, a former technician with our Inspection Laboratory, makes one wonder whether or not trout, like cats, have nine lives. On January 15, opening day of the 1970 trout fishing season, Bob's brother-in-law Frank Tilley went fishing through the ice on a pond about 30 miles from St. John's. - 2 - After catching about 16 mud trout Frank decided to call it quits for the day and return home. The drive back to St. John's took about one hour. The trout were frozen solid when Frank left the pond, but were beginning to thaw out by the time he reached home. That evening Frank presented his brother- in-law with three of the trout... all were very much alive and showed little ill effects as a result of their remaining in a frozen state on pond ice for almost two hours. Bob immediately brought the trout home and placed them in a bathtub filled with water. They remained there overnight and were still alive the following morning. We're not certain what happened to the trout later, but we understand Bob went trout fishing in his bathroom one day recently using the new fly rod and reel presented to hin by his co-workers in the lab. as a farewell gift on the last day of his employment with the Department. SHEA ENTERS P. C. LEADERSHIP RACE. Hugh Shea, a technician with Resource Development Branch, will tse taking leave without pay, effective February 16th, to contest the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party of Newfoundland. Mr. Shea, 37, served with the Department of External Affairs in Cairo, Egypt, prior to joining the Department of Fisheries. He received his education at St. Patrick's Hall School, Memorial University and the University of Indiana. Married and the father of three children, Mr. Shea operates a grocery business in Kilbride. - 0 - 0 - 0 - INDEMNITY BRANCH NOTES Tom Donahue's three-year-old son suffered a painful accident recently, piercing his eye with an old rusted fishing rod while playing with a companion. E. C. Simms has been hospitalized again and has undergone eye surgery. /3 The Indemnity Branch staff are exceptionally busy on the S a lt Fish Deficiency Payment Program. In fact, it has been found necessary to call on field staff for assistance. Fred Bishop from Clarenville helped out with the work one week and Frank Bennett from Carbonear another. Field staff are presently awaiting final details for the extension of the plan to cover vessels up to 100 feet in length with no limit on the appraised value. April 1, 1970, has been established as the date for the extension. PERSONNEL BRANCH NOTES Bob Ebsary, technician with the Inspection Laboratory, has resigned to accept a position with the new thermal power plant operated by the Newfoundland and Labrador Power Commission at Holyrood. He was s.o.s. January 17. S. S. Goodyear, student engineer, joined the Resource Development Branch January 5 as the first appointee under the University Co-Operative Engineering Program. Mr. A. Best joined the "Cape Freels" January 5 as a Seaman, having come from the Fisheries Research Board where his position was redundant. R. J. Barnes joined the "Arctica" January 8 in the same capacity, and he too came from the Fisheries Research Board. G. C. Slade has been actively involved in the Data Stream Retrieval Process and has had several discussions with groups who will be preparing Data Stream forms. On January 12th, Mr. Slade visited District Office at Grand Bank, stopping off at klarystown on his return to discuss preparation of the forms with officers of the "Cape Freels". Mrs. F. Goobie resigned her position as Secretary to the Chief of Administrative Branch and was struck off strength January 16. • • •/1+ Hector Green is still recuperating at home after a period of hospitalization following a heart attack. Patrick Bannister, Fishery Officer at Port Rexton, has given notice of his intention to retire from the service and he will be leaving us February 14th. We would like to welcome Captain Tom White, Master of the M/V "Hawke Bay", back to his old job. He returned to duty January 6 after a period of illness which commenced September 15, 1969. JOINS CONSERVATION & PROTECTION SERVICE, OTTAWA. J. W. Carroll, Assistant Chief of the Department's Conservation and Protection Branch in this region, has taken up duties with the Conservation and Protection Service at Ottawa. A native of Holyrood, Conception Bay, where he received his early education, Mr. Carroll is also a graduate of St. Bonaventure's College, St. John's, and St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, N. S. Other positions occupied by him in addition tri that of Assistant Chief of Conservation and Protection Branch, were Administrative Officer and District Officer at Bonavista. Prior to entering the Public Service, he served with the Royal Canadian Navy. Mrs. Carroll is the former Miss Therese LaMothe of Lac St. Joseph, Quebec. Jim, his wife and five children departed for Ottawa in mid-January. We wish him the best of luck. NOTES FROM THE FIELD District "A" The fishery in Trinity Bay ceased in late Lecember and since then only two vessels have fished in their area on occasions. Crab fishing continued in Conception Bay where one vessel is securing good catches at present. The herring fishery in Placentia Bgy is one of the • • • 15 worst on record and plants there are operating part time on "imports" from other areas, mainly Fortune Bay. Shipments of salted fish to market slowed down considerably and most firms have laid off part of their staff, retaining only a small number to operate dryers and attend to any orders received. Offshore trawlers landed average catches, once again concentrating on sole which has highest market acceptance. Several fishing companies are carrying out repairs and renovations to their premises in preparation for the 1970 season. The plant at Fermeuse is being completely overhauled by Bonavista Cold Storage Co. Ltd., and should be an efficient operation by opening date, now estimated to be sometime in February. Opening of the 1970 trout fishing season was dis- appointing to followers of Isaac Walton. Ponds were unsafe and only a few trout were taken in the St. John's area. Similar results were reported from the Bonavista Peninsula. However, the situation has changed since as a result of heavy frost, although catches have not increased prm- portionally. Officers of the District attended EMO training courses at Arnprior, Ontariol during the month, and although all were aware how serious hostilities could be, the lighter vein sometimes showed through. Commented Bren Paul: "The first time I'v ever spent a week in the deep freeze." (Temperatures ranged from to -26 °F.). Another quote in the Mess referred to Arnprior as the land of which Robert Service wrote in his "Songs of a Sourdough". It was nevertheless a worthwhile course. Congratulations to District Officer Bartlett who completed 25 years service with the Civil Service on January 5. Just goes to prove the Bartletts are a hardy race. A. Parsons, Warden, was t,o.s. January 15th. Stats. must be slipping, only one bulletin for eight days? * ******* *** Di strict "B" After an unusually lengthy absence Old Man Winter paid a visit to the district in early January. He enjoyed the visit so much that he decided to stay on and hand out some free samples in the way of high winds, snow flurries, drifting snow and below freezing temperatures. In fact, he was so free with his merchandise that he hampered the work of inshore fishermen, herring seiners and patrol boats and even went so far as to interfer with the activities of trawlers and draggers. However, despite his free handouts the trawler fleet managed to secure good catches and the herring seiners and inshore fishermen did fairly well. It was a case of nature against man with a lot of giving on one side an a lot of taking on the other. Volume of fresh fish landings at processing plants throughout the district reached an all time high during 1969.