The fishing industry (has) fallen from grace
and the interest and determination needed from
both the provincial and federal governments
simply (is) not there ...
You could be forgiven if you thought that
quote was referencing today's fishery.
We all know that during the Tory reign of
the past decade, the fishery has been a very
low priority - the ugly sculpin of family, as the sexier files of
oil and gas and Muskrat grab all the attention.
Interestingly, that quote was taken from a piece
"Decay of Trade" by the late academic David Alexander as he
reflected on the province's major industry in the late 1950s!
Alexander further observed "The Canadian authorities seemingly
regarded the Newfoundland fishing industry as
"an ancient relative that should not be encouraged."
It seems, according to Alexander, "that our fishing industry went into decline
once the Island entered Confederation. In fact, the federal government's involvement in the Atlantic fisheries was considered as relatively passive."
Ghosts of governments past come to haunt us on the shores of the present with their similar disengagement of our major industry...
It's scary that after all those years, both levels of government are still in control of
a rudderless ship called the fishery where there is no leadership, no vision, no dialogue and no action plan to bring this industry back to where it needs to be - in the bow of the provincial ship.
May we somehow navigate these troubled waters to find a strong fishery narrative in our future, as has been in our past ...
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