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Sparked

"F°gnist1 Fishermen Pioneer The Co-operative Effort

Twenty-five years ago many eyes were turned toward Tignish observations were being made about a young lawyer Chester P. McCarthy and his orﬁanization of fishermen.

During the last twenty years our minds have been occupied

._ with matters of greater interest

but to most of the old fisher- men the memory of the begin- ning of United Fishermen is still fresh.

The good old days were not so good if you can believe some of the stories told by the older fishermen. He began fishir: in the spring to pay back bills con- tracfcd during the winter months. It always took his entire earn- ings to square up and generally he remained in debt.

LNITIATED MOVEMENT

The great movement to better conditions of the fishermen be- gan in 1922. It germinated a- mong the group in Tignish’ and has since spread to cover the Maritime Provinces and has had far reaching and lasting effects on many parts of the world.

Tignish was in the lime-light for a few years for it was the real testing ground of coopera- tion in this country. Had the idea been tested in any otherysection the story could havebeen much different.

In those days most of the fish- i

ermen spent the blowy days a-

round the shore. Some would '7‘

play cards, a ball game or tug- o-war was easily organized too, but there was always a period af- ter meals when ideas were swap‘- ped.

you that it was men like Cletus Gavin, William D. McLeod, Hu- bie Gaudet, and John M. Han- drahan who came up with the proposition that if they worked together they could accomplish something that could not be done as individuals.

The idea of pooling their re- sources was born and meetings of all fishermen of the area were called. Several meetings brought nothing constructive and the fish- ermen decided they could do nothing by themselves. Edward Gavin and John M. Handrahan called on Chester McCarthy and asked him to come to their as- sistance. _

Mr. McCarthy attended their meeting and listened with inter- est. He was the'son of a fisher- man and had been a fisherman himself. Having had zworkedhis own college education out of fish- ing he had much understanding

of and sympathy for their plight.,

He assumed the responsibility as their leader, and from that day in 1922 until his death in 1948 he worked continuously in the inter- est of the fishermen.

The first meeting recorded was that of Oct. 16th. 1922 and the group named themselves the Tignish Fishermen’s Council. It existed as such until Mr. Mc- Carthy drew up a constitution and his group was in-corporated under the laws of The Province

ion of P.E.I. . Provisions were made for the organizing of other groups in the province and field-work was done by Mr. McCarthy. Soon stations of the Fishermen’s Union existed in. almost each fishing commun- ity of P.E.I. , » The Tignish Fishermen went into business of processing lob- sters and other fish in 1925 ‘buy- ing out plant owned by Dr. ”J.A. Johnston and the company was named Tignish Fisheries -Ltd. inc_orporated in that year. -‘

At that time no cooperative act was in existence in this coun- try but Tignish Fisheries was essentially a Fishermen’s Coop- erative. There were thirty-one charter members. Fifteeen of

.those pioneers have passed on to

their eternal reward.

Hubert Gaudet who was first president of the company is still an active fisherman. Joseph A. Arsenault, Charles Gavin, Mich- ael McPhee, Michael Ferdinand Gaudet, William Shea, Arthur P. Chaisson and‘ Harold Cormier are still taking their living from the sea. James D.

Fitzgerald who was first secre-

tary is retired. John M. Han- drahan, Howard Harper, Leo Shea, James Alyward, Merril ,MacKie and Mac McRae have re- tired from‘ fishing.

With the organization of _Flsh- ermen’s Union on P.E.I. came the organization of unions in the

other Maritime Provinces. Uni-1 ted Maritime Fishermen came‘

into existence to link up organ- ized fishermen of the three pro- vinces with Mr. Chester P. Mc- Carthy as the first president.

The great cooperative move- ment of the Maritimes came as

a follow up of United Maritimet Tignish fishermen may have just pride in the know- ledge that they played a very \ important part in the develope-

Fishermen.

ment of the Co-op structure of today.

The cooperative progress of the fishermen in Tignish was not [completed with the formation of

‘Tignish Fisheries Ltd., but those same fishermen sparked the Credit Union Ltd., showed the Maritime provinces the way al- so in credit unions. The consum- er and Producers’ Cooperative

serves almost all the needs of-

the community.

Tignish fisheries continues to grow and expand in member- ship and business activities. The present membership consists of 86 fishermen shareholders. Pro- ducts of the highest standards are produced in the new up to date cannery under the foreman- ship of L.J. McCarthy.

Two years ago a new fish sal-‘

tery was added. Fisheries in- spectors and fish buyers from

Joseph A. Arsenault will tell‘

Gaudet, I

ure developments in the indus- try and the fish business and it is quite likely that those will be realized. He explains his degree of success by his readiness to seek out the assistance and ad- vice of such men as Eugene Gor- man, Father Simpson, Extension Director at St. Dunstan’s Col- lege. Mr. Tibbits, Manager of the Bank of Commerce in Al- berton and Mr. R.D. MacKinnon and A.W. Fralick of the Depart- ment of Fisheries.

By Young Lawyer

He is ever ready to draw from lall over the country are moresea with no previous business

than pleased with the salt fishT_eXPe1‘ien°e' In the past Seveni

operation carried on under Peter Gallant.

A new salt fish drier was in-‘(year and during the spring sea-this IJI‘iVa?3 Office and if YOU are stalled a year before. The firstlS0h 57011 may find him at Tig- mechanical drier of its kind inihish Run Whereythe saltery 1S1 the province. Boneless salt cod-f1°°atedr, 3'5 Jud-es P011“ Where‘ fish are packed about nine 31-"°“t elghty emP1°Yee5 are busy months of the year in all size 35 bees» 01: at Alb"-‘1‘t°n Wharf packages_ The W05‘ is done algwhere the live lobsters are held most entirely by women folk. "1 mats-

Dora Gavin grades all fish and You will not have to wait long any customer buying Star Of The‘ for his return to the office in the, Sea boneless codfish may quite sure that quality is in eachaalways find Thelma DesRoches. package. Thelma has been secretary and

At the dtath of Mr. McCarthy, Accountant in the business for Miss Noreen Johnston took onrthe past two years. She is an the management of the business! apt scholar and has most of the Miss Johnston had served as answers on her finger tips. secretary to Mr. McCarthy for\ She will tell you that a fishing]

' I

! my board of Directors" and then

Joseph W. Doucette, Secretary;

I Gavin.

RUSS SLEEP MACHINE

scientists are developing an elec nine years and continued to car-vbusiness can become very com- ry on the business very capablyiplicated by times. Just when until 1951. [you think everything is going The present manager, Wilsonismoothly something will happen Shea began in 1951. He was a to upset the apple cart. fisherman and fresh from th e1 Mr. Shea has big plans for fut-

son needs to two hours daily.

“That means we’ll be nearly three times as long as we

-FISHERMEN HANDLE OWN PROBLEMS

Members .of the Board of Dir- left to right Joseph A. Arsen- Henry Doucette, Claude Gavin ectors of the Tignish Fisheries ault, Joseph W. Doucette, Har- and Albinus Smith. Limited seen in their office are old Cormier, John Fennessey.

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the fount of knowledge which ex- ists in his board of fishermen years he has had many and Va;--!directors. The seven of them have gied experiences. He finds plenty been around longel‘ than he- A ;to do for twelve‘ months of the'PiCtU1‘€ Of the EYOUP hangs in

Zcalling on him for the first time he will always ask you to “meet

he begins to introduce each one just as if he were present. Mr. Joseph A. Arsenault, president,

Harold Cormier, John Fennes-

sey, Henry Doucette, Claude,Ga- betvmage. At the office you wmgvin, Vice-president; and Albinus

LONDON (Reuters) — Moscow radio said Wednesday that Soviet ~

trio sleep machine which will re- duce the amount of sleep a per-

living

A BY rm. FOUND

ELLERSLIE BIOLOGICAL STATION

The recent epidemic oyster disease which has wiped out oy ster stocks in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick has placed the P.E.I. oyster fishery in a very prominent position. Never be- fore in the history of the Is-

Echo ,Sounder'; "ls Latest Out

Pye Canada Lim-ited has ann- ounced a new addition to its wide

line of Marin equipment. The Le_.dsman Echo Sounder is en- gineered by Pye 1\'irine at Lowe- stoft, England and is now avail- able for delivery anywhere in Canada.

This echo sounder indicates the actual depth of water beneath the keel at all times in all weather conditions. The principle of opera- tion is similar to that of sub- marine detection. An electronic impulse is generated in the trans- mitter, converted into an ultra- sonic beam by the transducer, which is mounted near the keel

\ .

land's oyster industry has .5 the market price for P.E.I. oysters been as high as in 1957.

The epidemi: oyster disease now active in the waters of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick is ‘considered to be the same dis-. case that devastated the Prince ‘Edward Island oyster fishery from 1915 to 1940.

Oyster stocks now growing in’

I and projected down yards towards ' the bottom.

When‘ this beam hits bottom ‘or other reﬂecting surfaces such as wrecks or reefs, it is reflected to the transducer which sends it back to the receiver. The signals are amplified and applied to a neon-indicator on a synchronous rotat'ng arm which ﬂashes once when the pulse is transmitted (zero position) and again when received back (against the depth sounded on the scale) having measured the time taken for the whole cycle. The entire operation ‘is automatic and is repeated hundreds of times a minute.

-HISTORIC SPORT The sport of curling was intro- duced to Canada nearly 200 years

ago by Scottish troops stationed

Prince Edward

R. Clark, Deputy Minister

at Quebec.

PRINCE EDWARD * DEPARTMENT of FIS

in 1924 as the Fisherm-en's Un-I

Island Oysters Placed In Prominent Posriti-on

Island waters have developed a resistance to

this disease. It should be em- phasized that the disease is de- finitely not injurious to humans.

In January of 1957 Mr. George of the Federal Department of Fish- eries, announced that a plan for the rehabilitation of the deple- ted oyster fishing grounds of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick with P.E. Island disease - re- sistant oysters had been put into effect. '

YEARS OF RESEARCH

Years of research by Fisher- ies Biologists and experience gained during the 1915 to 1940 epidemic of the disease in P.E. Island waters had shown that if an area depleted by this disease

was left to itself it would re-|

quire at least 15 years to _re- habilitate whereas if planting

of disease-resistant oysters wereis an abundant supply of these‘

made to such an area the re- habilitation period could be cut

approximately in half.

Based on this devise the re- habilitation plan now being car- ried out by the Fedederal De- partment of Fisheries will trans- plant 10,000 barrels of disease resistant oysters from Prince Edward Island to the depleted areas of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia over a period of three years.

The shape of the disease-re- sistant oysters to be transplan- ted is immaterial. They are re- quired ) only as breeding stock and their progeny will acquire the“ usual market quality of the

The fishing industry is ever-changing. There are the

traditions,

Past. There is the vigorous growth, the change, of the -‘ . Present. There is the promise, the challenge, of the

Future.

Page 4 GUAR

tarea to which they are planted.

‘Tl-IE POORER TYPE

Thus only oysters of too poor :1 quality for market are being ‘used for the transplant. There

‘poor quality oysters growing in P.E. Island waters. They grow in such crowded conditions on ‘soft bottom that their market value has been destroyed.

The purchase of these oysters by tender by the Federal De- partment of Fisheries thus pro- vides Island oyster fishermen with an additional source of in- come.

Furthermore, the active fish- ing and removal of oysters from these over crowded lzzds will tend to improve the quality of the oysters growing on, these

ditional marketable stock. STARTED IN MAY The first phase of the rehabil-

.I.ET or YSER FISHEEN

N RI

the romance, the achievements, of the '

In saluting this great industry let us take off our hats to the Past,—and our coats to the Future.

I

7 I i

l

A Special Message

from

T

DOUGALD MacKINNON

Minister -—-—¢1:._.

Eepunmenr of Fisheries!

The citizens of this province . . . owe a debt ot gratitude to our hardy fishermen who year after year, at the cost of great personal privation, and even risk of life, reap the harvest from the sea.

May this fine example set by these brave fisher- -.

men of ours be one worthy of us all.

DIAN-PATRIOT, FRI’. J“

ovsreas CAUGHT IN 'RA|(E'

beds in future and provide ad-,

in

itation plan was :3

lng May and‘, J“n:m°f°dm50vt 1,500 barrels of fished from summiﬁds h0“1‘ by oy$teI'Cl'at3'Inc _ ier Brothers and Fred L3) .senau1t for sale by tender . Federal Department V‘ t“

of - ies. 1.000 barrel ,' . ter_s were transglagi ﬁle: ‘ Shlppegan area of New izvick and 500 barrels in mg! ~. ace-Mala a . I Scotia. g 8-ma Ni ;

The results of

plants made in 1957tl:;$::e " _‘ couraging that in "E ‘ partment’ of Fisheriegp transplant 4,500 bamelsmi’ ders to supply ‘these W . rels will be ‘called for ms. The major po,t,0n°"l 1958 transplant will go go‘. Mirimachi area in New“ , wick.‘ » -- " -

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a-’

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