Fishing for Seals English.Pdf

Maro Adjemian, Adrienne Blattel and Monica Green Labrador Basse-Côte-Nord La Tabatière Québec Mutton Bay Sept-Îles N Golfe du Saint-Laurent Terre-Neuve CANADA St-Jean Québec Nouveau- I.-P.-É. Brunswick Océan Montréal Nouvelle- É-U Écosse Atlantique “The country around is all my own much farther than you can see. No fees, no lawyers, no taxes are here. I do pretty much Introduction as I choose. My means are ample through my own industry. People have been coming to the rugged north The seal fishery ended in the 1980s, and These vessels come for sealskins, seal oil, and salmon, and shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence for nearly with it, an important part of the region’s give me in return all the necessities, and indeed comforts, 9,000 years because of its exceptionally rich culture. Seal fishing was once central to the of the life I love to follow.” marine resources. During their annual migra- economy of the Lower North Shore. Today, - Samuel Robertson, 1833 tion from the Arctic, thousands of harp seals few Canadians even know of the existence of pass by this coastline, known as the Quebec this historic industry. Despite the controversy Lower North Shore. In the 18th century, surrounding the capture of seals, this story has officials from New France began fishing seals a place alongside the cod fishery and fur trade commercially along these shores. Permanent as a significant part of Canadian history. This settlers arrived in the 19th century and a string booklet tells the largely unknown story of the of isolated villages sprang up alongside a seal fishery, part of the rich cultural heritage of large-scale seal fishing industry. These settlers Quebec’s Lower North Shore. devised increasingly complex systems of nets to capture seals. Seals had many uses for the people living along the coast. They sold seal skins and oil to commercial firms, ate the meat or fed it to their dog teams, and made water resistant sealskin clothing, essential for survival in a harsh coastal climate. The seal fishery reached unprecedented heights in the village of La Tabatière, where legendary Scottish pioneer Samuel Robertson established the most productive seal fishing post in the region. Labrador Lower North Shore La Tabatière Québec Mutton Bay Sept-Îles N Gulf of St.Lawrence Newfoundland CANADA St.John’s Québec New P.E.I. Brunswick Montréal Nova Atlantic USA Scotia Ocean Quebec’s Lower North Shore, also known as the Coast, is made up of 15 villages with a total population of just under 6,000 people. The villages are spread out across 400 km. 1 The Harp Seal’s Migration The Ancient Practice of Four species of seal are found along Quebec’s Harp seal pups of the Gulf herd are usually Lower North Shore: the harp seal, the harbour born on ice floes in late February or early Capturing Seals seal, the hooded seal and the grey seal. The March, close to Anticosti Island and the most plentiful is the harp seal, which is the Magdalen Islands. In May, once the pups are Long before the development of a commercial The Innu, primarily an inland people, spent third most abundant species of seal in the weaned and the seals have moulted, the herd seal fishery, people were already making use of time on the Coast during the warmer months world with a population of approximately of harp seals gradually travels back north to the rich abundance of seals on the Lower North and hunted seals when they came across them. 5.8 million. Large groups of harp seals pass Arctic waters. Shore. Aboriginal peoples first came to this The Innu primarily hunted sedentary species by the Lower North Shore during their annual region to hunt seals and other marine mammals such as harbour seals, rather than the migra- migration, making them the preferred species over 8,000 years ago, as the glacial ice cap tory harp seals. Like the Inuit, they used the for the Lower North Shore seal fishery. retreated. Seals were relatively easy to catch and sealskins and oil for their own needs, as well drew both ancient Arctic peoples and inland as to trade with Europeans. The largest population of harp seals world- peoples to the coastline. wide is found in the northwest Atlantic. During the summer, this population can be Seals were traditionally useful to both the Inuit found northwest of Greenland and in the and the Innu (also known as the Montagnais), eastern Canadian Arctic. In October, the especially as a source of food and clothing. seals begin a long southward migration to The Inuit first came to the Lower North Shore the areas where they will give birth and moult between 1550 and 1600, where they lived - either along the shores of Newfoundland or mainly from seal hunting. Like the Inuit across in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. the Canadian Arctic, these coastal Inuit used seal meat for food, seal oil for light, cooking and warmth, and sealskins to make clothing, shelters, and boats. They also traded seal products to Europeans in exchange for other goods. Harp seals at different stages of maturity: the newborn “whitecoat,” older “beater,” almost mature “bedlamer,” and a fully mature male “old harp” with a harp- shaped marking on its back. BafBaB fffinfiniB Bayy N The Inuit sometimes captured seals onshore, but most often hunted from kayaks on the open water. Baffin Island Greenland Atlantic harp seal migration. Most of the population stays along the Innu hunting seals shores of Newfoundland, but the on the ice along the Iceland Gulf herd travels through the Strait North Shore of the of Belle Isle, along the Lower North St. Lawrence. Denmark Strait Shore, and into the middle of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Atlantic Labrador Ocean CANADA Lower North Shore Québec NewfoundlandN Distribution GulfGulf ofof St. Lawrence MagdalenMaMaggddaala e Islands Whelping areas Major Migration Pathways USA SOUTH IN AUTOMN NORTH IN SPRING 2 3 New France From a Seasonal Workforce When Europeans arrived in North America, Over time, a number of other fishing posts were they soon developed a keen interest in the rich established and seal fishing became a significant to Permanent Settlement resource of the harp seal herds on the Lower industry within New France. Fishing techniques North Shore. In the late 17th century, the king of improved, and officials began to operate a fishery Around 1790, after the British Conquest of France began awarding large tracts of coastline during the winter seal migration as well as the North America, the Labrador Company took called concessions to high-ranking officials from spring one. In 1738, a particularly lucrative sealing over all of the seal fishing posts in the region New France. The concession system was created post called Poste du Gros-Mécatina operated from the concessionaires. Seasonal employees to help France control this vast territory, and near present-day Mutton Bay. By 1742, the post were hired to carry out the seal fishery. When gave the officials the right to fish for seals and employed up to 24 men, mostly from around the Labrador Company went bankrupt in cod and trade furs with the Inuit and Innu. One Quebec City. A team of Innu lived at the post, 1820, former employees and other settlers were of the first and best known concessionaires trading furs for food and other provisions. free to occupy the fishing posts and claim new in the early 1700s, Augustin le Gardeur de unoccupied posts. The promise of rich resources Courtemanche, conducted a major seal fishing and unlimited freedom lured migrant fishermen operation out of the harbour of Bradore. to the area. Some of these seal fishing stations became the basis of today’s villages, marking the beginning of permanent settlement on the Lower The Basques were probably the first North Shore. By 1860, there were over 50 posts Europeans to capture seals in North inhabited year-round, scattered along the coast- America. From the 16th to the 18th century, Basque fishermen from line near the richest fishing grounds. In the early southwest France and northwest days of permanent settlement, seals were the Spain came to the Gulf of St. Lawrence chief resource on the Lower North Shore. to hunt whales. They also captured seals for their pelts and for the oil. They boiled the whale or seal blubber into oil using large outdoor ovens, The newcomers had diverse origins. At first, Scottish, and brought the oil back to Europe. English and American settlers arrived, including the Scottish entrepreneur Samuel Robertson who founded La Tabatière. French-speakers from the crowded south shore of the St. Lawrence soon followed. Between 1860 and 1900, major waves of settlers from Newfoundland arrived, including the Willcott and Organ families. Ivy Gallichon Robertson is pictured above (right) with Beatrice Organ Willcott in 1946. Map of the Nontagamiou fishing post (near present- day Chevery) around 1740. Concessionaires had to NontN ntagagammmiioiouou fishingshshinng post invest an enormous amount Unlike the employees of the of capital and labour A B into these posts. They C Labrador Company, settlers D had to stay on the Coast typically employed a captain, ine orel A. MMaster’ssh housou e year-round to protect their navigator, sailors, carpenters, Sh E y B. Empmplleeees’s house seal fishing posts. They built coopers and fishermen, all of nd G whom had to live away from Sa C. Storehoususe houses and brought their their families for 6 months D. Storehouseef foforr pprrrovoviisionssio families to live and work with them. This photograph shows at a time. At the end of the F F E.

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