revives I P. E interest

in ‘trawlers 0

iv of

stiffer opposition to foreign vessels in the Gulf of St. Law- rence waters may develop. loc-

shlp construction assistance reg- ulations, to permit paying a.5o per cent subsidy on construct-

than a year,‘ ‘local provincial fisheries had waged a battle against-the clause. INTEREST IS KEEN

It is believed, though confirm. atlon is not imm

in the construction of steel traw- lers of up to 115 feet in length. At least one application is be- heved to have been received. and possibility exists that others for steel trawler: of approxim- ately 75 feet are in the offing. one of the strongest reosons for constructlon of the new ships is les Oouncil of paveg the way for this province's entry

thefast-appearing necessity Island-owned trawlers ranging further afield to make paying catches. The smaller. wooden shit!!! now in use cannot re- main at sea so lor_1g. nor go so far as the largest steel vessels.

oed a resolution asking for this

change in regulations. and it ‘ . was sent to Hon. Leon B. Bal- I

cor. star of transport,- and the Canadian M-ariti-me Com. mission. Information was received by A. Walther:-Gaudet. chairman of the Fishermen's Loan Board, oi the change being made. Notif- ication came from the Fisher- into the field of steel trawler operation. It is believed at the resent time that New Brunswl)ck al. ready has fouir such trawlers under construction. two near Bathurst and others at St. John. There has been keen compet- ltion in the traditional fishing wounds. and the large ships sent by European countries have serious inroads. It has been said one of the results is to make it more difficult for Island-based ships to get con- sistent catch w in -lim-

es ited field of operations.

1961- Fisheries Edition

ﬁmrrdimr

Charlottetown. Sat. Sept. 29, 1962.

PAGE 11

SECOND SECTION

10,000 OF‘ P.E.I. OYSTERS WE RE‘ TRANSPLANTED IN NB. AND N.S.

I more 8 Mclmm

Men's Wear — First Floor

Mr- Fisherman - Who

To Fit?

money-saving 20% the regular price of last year's suits. New Fall suits. in th e shades and patterns are also now in stock.

MOORE & ;W1EODiTD°

ysays You’re Hard

We never said it, that's for sure. Nor will we! Tall, we've a great selection of suits in YOUR par- ticular size and shape. Nobody's hard to fit here, and now there's a

short, or stout,

off

latest

Federal ﬁsheriesl’eople work 12 months a year

« all across Canada

Ilrging the Canadian Housewife to reach for ﬁsh more often!

So every time she does, the ﬁsherman and those around him proﬁt. That is why the Department of Fisheries high standards are your best guarantee that year in and year out she’ll have conﬁdence in ﬁsh—and

keep reaching for it.

otrawa

orrnnmrnr or FISHERIES

. CANADA - llon.J.AIt|Io lIad.oon,M.F,,MlnIotor - Ooorjo R.C|otlr.Doputy Mlnlotor

IF I00-Ml

‘.

The federal fisheries depart-

w new era will be opened for the At- lantlc Oyster industry, now pla- gued by disease and weather vagaries. It will be g od news as well for oyster lovers across the land.

Work was started this past

ed Malpeque Bay, now. the heart of the Canadian oyster indus- try

The hatchery will test on a fairly large scale a relatively recent conviction that oysters c be persuaded to spawn efficiently and well under con- trolled artlficial conditions, that the larvae can be fed and that an adult oyster can be obtain- ed

Fisheries scientists hold high hopes for the experiments which the industry from the present uncertainties of oyster

. regeneration.

. . L. Prlchardf director of conservation and development at fisheries headquarters in Ot- tawa, says the hatchery experi- ment “shows real potential," al-

though it may be another two years before the full results are own.

SLOW RECOVERY

is slowly recovering from a dis- astrous outbreak of disease that practically wiped out the rich New Brunswick and Nova Sco- tia stoc s.

Disease resistant oysters from Prince Edward Island have been transplanted in the stricken ar-

s Meanwhile the oyster industry -ed carrriers of the disease -

Island test may open new era for oysters

eas to save the beds from ex-

tinctlon. - The hatchery idea is the re-

sult of investigation into oysters which became intense about se- ven years ago when the mysteri- our disease struck along the New Brunswick and Nova Sco- tia shores.

Atlantic oysters shun cold wa- ter and Cana an stocks are located mainly In the warmer southern sector of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Prior to 1950 New Brunswick supplied 57 per cent of the Canadian output, P. E. I. 32 per cent and Nova Scotia the remaining 11 per cent.

But by 1960 the oyster disease had just about eliminated the mainland stocks and P. E. I. was producing about 80 per cent of Canadian output. In that de- cade the total take fell from about 7,500,000 pounds to 3,500,- 000 pounds.

the United States Atlantic shore. Between 1915 and 1918 P. E. I, beds were all but exterminated y it. CARRY DISEASE

Some of the P.E.I. oysters, however, were resistant to the disease and from this small per- centage the Malpeque Ba y stocks were rebuilt to normal ize over a 20-year period. The resistant oysters remain-

which has no effect whatsoever on humans who eat the oysters. It is thought that an illegal transplant of seed oysters from P.E.I. to the mainland beds caused the new outbreak. Federal scientists have since

By NEIL A. MATIIESON Provincial-Farm Editor Few men have such a panor- amic view the province’s

Grath. who at 90 can look back

his living from the sea. Most people look upon

fisl:-.-rman of other years as an

unfortunate s r! of craftsman.

financial troubles at hom though modern day fishing, par- “ tlcularly in lobsters and oysters, has developed into a fairly profitable undertaking. But the Morell fisherman who was acclaimed the Vince's oldest fisherman

sea. and the storms, and all the other hardships faced by “the men who go down to the sea in ships". It's been a good life he told this paper at his home re- cently.

so '

WORKED TIRELESSLY

One gets the feeling talking to .Mr McGrath that he was a successful fisherman, for he was

«-4

year. That idea is backed up it solidly by fishermen from neigh-

bourhinvg towns an villag-as as far away as Souris. His fellow craftsmen look upon his as a man who always worked tire-

the boss of every opportunity.

Chatting with Mr. McGrath is like a journey into the past with one’s feet on the ground of the present.

Contrasts he paints between the fishing of today and its good prices, and the arduous and dis- couraging struggles of the past are startlingly interesting.

Three crates of lobsters will bring $100 now, he said — that was prior to the opening of the fall season—- “but I recall get- ting $1.35 per crate for them when I was a youngster”. said the man who explained that that price was paid by packers who supplied the boats. But even at that the contrast was sharp, he sen

transplanted 10,000 barrels of P.E.I. oysters to the diseased areas and these are producing a new breed of disease-resistant oysters to repopulate the once- rich beds.

It will be another five to six yeam before the industry gets back to normal. In the mean

0 U‘

ing the decade of the diseas " - Pr°WY Wm mat." ‘“g*‘- ...§'&§a“§°§§l‘..¥‘3E.u‘"h’L°W232’

Atlantic oysters Will not spawn an wen nl beca e f E; I” water bebw 68 degree?‘ A twisted fir(Ige)I' recglsls that cod °°1d' late spring sametm-‘es was the mainstay of the indus- "ms the mId's"'mmer Spawmng try in the early days. He pe"°d' 0’ a rainy autumn may bought a 20-ton schooner at Al- Wash °°Id “in water mu’ the berton, while still a young man bay and wipe °“t me baby °yst' for $600 and five men fished ers. In either case a whole 3eas- from i; with two dories‘ on’s reproduction is quickly lost.

. HARBOR GOOD

PI-ANTED IN FARMS The harbor at Morell was At present the industry is en- good at time and would tirely dependent on the collect- handle the schooner, “but it's ion of baby Oysters - - called sanded up now and as crooked spat - - from natural spawning as the deuce”, he said. Fish was beds. These are replaced on the salted on the schooner and Mr. “farms” which are small areas McGrath recalls they received leased for oyster $4.50 for the: fit? load which

more than 1.400

‘r was sold at Port ood in Nova e are such leases in the gulf waters,

Scotia “which was a good price time.” The market did- agmg 2 - - _ it’: want hake or haddock then, 33;, anplogémﬁggf "1 Sue he explained. The hatchery idea was first tested by Roy E. Drinnan of the

cultivation.

Mr McGrath had a physical checkup from a doctor a few weeks before this paper visited him and was told his heart and lungs were good, and he had no blood pressure trouble. That was the only other visit to a doctor, with the exception of an operation to remove a cataract on his eye several years ago.

He has “smoked a bit at in- tervals. drank some rum," and he liked to shoot geese, ducks and partridge.

13 ON ONE SHOT

“We used to have good spring

shooting for a couple of weeks,

Fisheries Research Board Canada. Using, controlled water temperatures, he ed to induce oysters to spawn under lalboratocry conditions and from the fertilizer eggs hatched swarms of larvae.

The larvae must feed for about three weeks before devel- oping into baby oysters which cement themselves to the near-

CONTINUED ON PAGE 10

49 Fowtlol St.

0 Marine Hardware 0 Fishing Boat ond Droggor Supplies 0 /Clinton Air Cooled Engines

HALLS: STAVERT LTD.

snvmo nu: nsnmo mousm THROUGH 23 runs or PROGRESS .

1'he fishing industry was not os advanced then, in 1934 osit is at the present doy--nor of course, were we. Over the yoors the Fishing Industry has progressed as one of Prince Edward Island’: loading industries. contributing largely to the economic life of the Island.

We are privﬂegod to take port in that industry and take pride, In the fact that we too. have kept pace with the in- dustry! Wo ore doing everything possible to provide those services so essential and necessary to this growing trade.

PECIAL ERVICE

Charlottetown

O Gardner Diesel Engines

~as early as St. Patrick's Day and even before that" said Mr. McGrath who recalls seeing a man bring 13 geese down with one shot. The gunman was in a barrel submerged to water lev- ' e stream as the geese swam u the river. There

wear. Full supply of RUBBER

164 Richmond St.

SHOWING MON DAY TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

Shows 3.30 - 7 - 9

Diol 4-3243 54,9/7'0;

fishing history as Vincent Mr- —. on 78 years, man and boy taking the ’

beset with atural storms and '

lessly and efficiently to make -

the K & R Shoe & clothing

Store Headquarters for MINER Rubber Foot-

‘lT'S BEEN II GOOD LIFE‘

Island's oldest fisherman recalls colorful early days‘

I VINCENT MCGRA'1‘H—A TIRELESS TVORKER

would be 500 geese or more in} the bay at one time, he recalls. 3 There were plenty of oysters‘ j in those days but they were not the right shape for top prices,, and brought about $5 a barrel, [he said. . “I fished everything," the genial, l Morell Irishman declared. There |were eelsinwinterandhe sold, . them to New York at 30 cents! per pound in the rough. An old butter box full brought $10 in U. currency and exchange was high enough to boost that considerably. It was 12 cents on the dollar at one time, and later was 15 cents, he said. ( He was able to make more - than $13 a day at smelts “and many’s the hour I spent at it’,' e

Winter was the best time for j catching eels as the fishermen ' speared them through the ice. “We fished them every day after smelt fishing until we started to rig out for lobsters whgn that season arrived", he sar .

HEAVY WORK

But it was heavy work spear- ing eels through the ice, as the poles with the spears were 25 feet long. “But it was worth it"

Fisheries

Employment for well over 1- 500 people in the southern Kings area is created by the fishing industry. Approximately 350 boats and a number of draggers work out of the ports of Annem- dale, Launching, Georgetown, Cardigan, Newport, Lower Mon- ,’ tagué, Gaspereaux, Sturgeon. I Murray Harbour North, Murray} Harbour South and Beach Point. 1

These boats employ approx- imately two men per boat and the draggers have a crew of ; five. There are also four to five;

types of fish. 1

Fishermen's needs.

BOOTS «

Dial 4-5312 * I

GOOD LUCK FISHERMEN

of PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND May 1962 be your best season yet . . . jln tradition‘

factories to handle the various - ~ where

as Mr. McGrath and a compan- ion made $42 one afternoon dur- ing a particularly good nm. They would be worth $100 or more today, he sa-id.

Mr. McGrath remembers that salmon fishing was good in the bay in other years though there's none now. “I' seen them take up 75 salmon in a boat and they brought 10 cents each to the fishermen then - that would be economical eating for such a tasty product. They would average up to emit pounds and might go as high as 25 pounds in individual fish, he reported.

Mackerel fishing is good sport. “There's nothing like it to put the life in you", he said.

Fishing was better in the old days as there were fewer boats fishing. There are 70 boats fish- ing now ong a portion of the North Shore that had less than 10 boats in his early days, he said.

But he expects to see an in» provement in the Lobster fish- ing, for- example, because of the new size limit regulations in force now. It should improve the industry, he believes.

provide

1,500 with work

The live lobsters are also hauled by refrigerator trucks to the markets. The area has two full time fisheries officers, one a protection officer the other an inspection officer.

This spring drifting ice and on shore winds created one of the most hazardous opening seasons in the lives of most of these men. The date was set ahead to May 16 and few were able to run lines and set their traps un- til nearly two weeks later. A gentleman's agreement as to the starting day and time was agreed upon by fishermen in

traps many had losses of ap- proximately 75 for every aoo run. These losses were due mainly to the return of the ice and the onshore winds.

In the off season many d these hardy seamen turn to boat building, repairs to trap! and nets and some build most of their own traps. Many also augment their income by farm- ing.

In a lighter vein, many enjoy

‘ participating in the several re-

RUBBER SUITS ‘

gattas in the area. Also in re- cent years some have made their boats available to the tourists for deep sea fishing.

Navarone