Land & Sea: Greenspond

when you visit greens Pond you sense that this little cluster of Rocky islands is a special place there's a stately air about the Old Town even the very houses seem proud and hoty as though basking in some past Glory greens Pond was quite a place in the Heyday of the northern fishery in the seal [Music] hunt when St Steven's church was built in 1857 the the settlement was already a thriving center with Mercantile firms a customs house and a fleet of foreign goinging [Music] vessels Green Pond faded as the laborator fishery and the seal fishery faded his population declined and some feared that The centralization Fever of the ' 50s and 60s would seal as fate but this tough little island has bounced back people have returned and look again to the Sea for their livelihood years ago on a day like this the men would be out seal hunting for this is a great spot for seals but this once important industry has been severely crippled an important source of income lost veteran seal hunter Melvin bur is angry that the seal fishery was allowed to die I believe there's a good many seals out there these years is there yes Bo yes there more seals there this last uh this last five or six years and never been there this last well in my memory I I go back as far I the last 50 years yeah you've been seting for 50 years yeah that's what I been at it I was 1 13 14 when I started at it yeah and I've at it ever since and I never seen the lake as was here the last four or five years but you can't do anything with us you can't get no no point in going out there's not much sense in going out and killing them you know I mean last winter are there was about 500 CHS throwing away over this wre 500 p ad thrown away and I mean there could have been 2,000 these people was in wrting going and killing them for the the steal where the P you know yeah how much money would you have made now years back on that many pelts well boy when it comes of years back you know all amount of years eh yeah you think I mean when I was about well 1935 this one it wasn't the Hun ships came inary and the we Court came in that year we had we me and father we lived on PFF Island there with the fogers too I prob nine years out there and we all the seals a sure that we got 52 come to a dollar a pill I see but now when does now this last well last 20 25 years even up you know $25 a p so there's a lot of money being lost now oh my son have mean people would be more RIS as you getting clear pills hey yeah I mean you think last year was 500 seals R in here well if didn't been you know worth anything 20 $25 buil my god there could have been 5,000 R in her well the protest groups wouldn't have set foot on newfinland island if Melvin bu had his way not that it would have stopped what happened I suppose for the seal hunt was killed not here but in comfortable Southern climes the protest was based on ignorance of life here in the north seals were important in the off seon in the months when you couldn't fish cod and salmon and lobsters now it's not worth going out nothing to do but wait for spring well not really for there's firewood to be cut and Nets and fishing gear to be made ready greens spawn may look deserted on a cold blustery day in midwinter but don't be fooled the men aren't a bed go up to the twine Loft and you'll find them at least that's where we found Bob grer and his Brothers they're long liner fishermen B some people think that fishermen have nothing to do in the winter time in the spring you see that's not right is it no that's not always true always PL do around every day but what's your work now we're getting our C trps ready now for the the spring fish Us in the spring those that already fish I gu trap for that what else do you fish for in the spring well we get hit lumps and Laps something a laps and uh that's about it now until the C come before you get set well some at the Grand Fe early you know we don't usually get Grand Feast that early so you're fairly busy then all all winter all winter yeah especially after January the far we do a bit of hunting and getting a bit of firewood and around this time of year know we gets pretty busy getting thear in order I believe you Fells sort of re-entered the fishery didn't you you started off fishing but you gave it up for what we were fixing when we when we were bar growing up in greenpan then we went to St John's and went to working there and oh spent nine years in there came back in 78 shie brother and cousin about line liner started fishing I suppose you were discouraged when you were younger that the Green Spa looked like it was on the way out yeah well that's what well in green spine then back in in the 60s that resettlement was under go and education be the thing then all all the older people my father night will move away from Green spine nothing air for you in the Fe don't don't don't be at this so we went went elsewhere but the the fure wasn't much Greener so we're back again hopefully we're staying now the granter left and they came back to pick up the skills and the way of life they'd left behind it happened to a lot of people here in Greens Pond here's one reason for the greens Pond Revival the causeway to shambler Cove the end of isolation no longer are people trapped on the island when the wind is too strong or the ice too bad this has meant a lot to the people of greens Pond they're now linked with hospitals and other services the causeway has opened up new resources too take firewood for instance while trees may not be very tall or thick here on the mainland of Bonavista North growth is considerably better than on Green fond in fact there's probably not a stick of wood on the entire Island now it's just a matter of loading the snowmobile aboard the truck and heading for the woods if you should get hungry for a fresh meal of smelt you can join the people from other communities as they Converge on Southwest pond it's the best place around they say for these tiny fish a grand bit of sport for people of all ages the old days of isolation are over for greens Pond and most admit it's a good thing that it's given the old Island and new lease on life when we return it will be summer we'll see what green Pond is like then and we'll go out in boat to manuri and the place they call L up much has been written about the greens Pond Saga of the ships and the men that sailed from here the Waterfront today is not exactly a forest of Spurs even though the population has rebuilt in recent years there's still less than half as many living here now as lived here in its Heyday a century or so Go uncle C carer can't remember back that far but he's old enough to have watched greens Pawn swing from Good Times to bad and back again his youth was in the days of sail he can entertain you for hours with stories of ships and the men who sail them many a famous Mariner has been raised on these rocky shores the there may not be much physical evidence to show that greenspond was once a hub of the north but there are many memories and they go back a long long way one of my great great grandfather or somebody like that lived on L Island there in 16 he had a scner belt in 1687 1697 the scner called a uh Indian Queen a fishing sner and she went to Labrador and was lost in Indian tickles now I don't know how many years she went to labador before she was lost I don't know that could have been the first year could have been five or six year after that yes remarkable wasn't it your 30 2 Ser green SP I full of vessels coting vessels fishing vessels but now you wouldn't fish around here would you where would where would the man fish oh no they would all go up labador up the labador fish it yes was it a prosperous Place prosperous Place always a prosperous place yes sir until the the dirty tties came that ruined everything ruined everybody huh that's she come back again now see a lot of people leave a lot of people R away and a lot of people came back to we come back again living there Uncle C Carter is proud and delighted to see people return to greenspond and to hear the sounds of engines in the harbor once more Marshall grener the father of Bob who we spoke with earlier in the twine Loft he's one of those who returned to the Sea while Bob and the boys fish from a long liner Marshall prefers to fish alone in a small boat he agreed to take me out and give me a taste of a fisherman's life on greens Pond Island aside from a bit of fog which threatened to obscure the mercs it was a beautiful day on the water a few miles out We Came Upon two of Marshall's neighbors Philip bur and Sam bur it didn't seem like they doing much with it the fish were scarce around greens spawn this summer I could tell though that Marshall wasn't used to bobbing around on the ocean very long without a line in his hand you have a try I'm going throw see if I can jig one it's not too promising the F Bo is it no bo no yeah that's the few got through the draggers n is by yeah small fish though wasn't it yeah small time that the F gets out there you know it was better fish in this yeah what I get to they don't get very many i' been small fish what been there all the year but n only only time it's all deep water here no not not desperate say it's not desperate deep there no middle NAA chury know chury that's what you call the ground man chury man chury yeah named after the battle they had during the first world war you know I see I didn't know won the battle or lost the battle or whatever but you know someone found this botle ground that's what he call it Manu see if you win the battle now with the fish I try it anyway another one coming thas TR there is look at that oh is it it's not one again that's right not too bad though we brought you a bit of luck you'll do all right I hope you do anyway yeah you're getting a few on the TR up through yeah sc one bu used to be a good place too one time when you get them on the TR will you get them on the too or no not necessarily you could jig not not jig them but you still try it eh yeah and sometimes you'll jig it and not TR M supp depends if they're going for the bait or not yeah that's right that's right if there's any Lo bait around you know not very often you'll try it then but you'll jig it I see supp there's lots of fishing ground around here in Green spa though is it oh yes but there's a nice bit of fishing ground because now well we we usually fishes will right from the offord island different times of the year right on down to poach Island flowers Island down around there you know so there's there's quite a bit of ground well there's ground off if there was lots of fish around you wouldn't see a boat all day you'll be honest about to ground be yourself all day but the way is now you got to Trad and so trade around we did going from one spot of ground to another looking for fish with the extra weight aboard and the fog covering the Horizon Marshall couldn't find his troll on the offer ground the place they call L up now what do we do bet Jo van bet Jo van do you read me now [Applause] over you're lucky in what i is I can't find my boy I'm up here now I don't know where I'm to no I a try L but I got the CBC Fells out here with me this morning we talking to fil there fil not doing much yet 100 pound but can't find me boy [Music] [Applause] [Music] over I could be off or down see I'm off or down over the bottom you know I'm not going I'm not going to have about 50 F but I I'm hoping that it's going to clear enough for me to find it the minute over again yeah I'll give you a sh B Bo I if I get to be boy that find out what's going on yeah over out [Applause] well we steamed on trying to find L up I certainly wasn't much help in fact I figured Cape Bonavista would probably loom out of the fog any minute but I should have known better after a spell of dodging back and forth of trading around and testing the bottom Marshall spotted his boys on a l up we're 7 mil or so from land now there's no sh water further out L up is our best chance for a few fish that's head coming a board now look like you got one Marshall anyway there's one coming I open to get him yeah they're pretty scarce though aren't they pretty scarce TI mun in the [Music] top there's usually big fish out there Mar usually big fish out there yes what do you figure have I I don't know I guess the most of the big fish is cut off offshore you mean offshore that's what I really means I think that's all we're getting is a bit of draining and not much of it now some people say there's lots of fish for everybody offshore and inore but you don't I don't believe it I don't believe it because the reason why I don't believe it because every year the say seven or eight years every year it's getting scarcer and scarcer this was pretty good ground I believe was it one time this was the best this was Chas gr how much fish would you get here now in a good year years go well any day you get out here you safe on three or 4,000 lb fish with your Tri two or three men would pend to try here you see it moreable we used to use a 30ft bullet and there's no trouble you there I try and what are you get now couple hundred pound there one coming up there now a good one yeah they got a big one season comeing if I can get them I'm hoping to get them the bait is gone on this stretch I am must be a few more fish around something picked it off here bottom stuff too you know oh that's a better one there a better one that's more likely yeah that's the kind I like to see well you got something when you get fueled in I said there's another one coming there that's one to draggers never [Music] got you know they say they got a quarter they got a quarter for for dragger so the have got a call her but what about all that the draggers drags that they don't know nothing about but gets away let's go too small and shovels off the dicks and all this [Music] stuff when he gets to quarter C you got [Music] two you like this life though don't you loves it loves it sir she tried other work too I believe I have tried yes I've have tried a lot of other things well probably I made better money but I didn't like the works well so I come back to the fishery again when I was raising my family the price of fish was low the job make two ends neat so I I I went out other things construction work working the m and carpenter work but I come back to the fishy again and so Marshall grer has returned to greenspond and the fishery so have many others while the Cod fishery hasn't been good in recent years the high prices offered make a difference but it's by catching other species that many small boatmen here manage to survive for lump fish row fetches a good price and if you have a license there's the lobster and the salmon Fisheries there's flatfish to catch too and capelan and sometimes mackerel added together it's a living and that's all that Marshall wants for this is the life he loves he's glad he returned to greenspa a final word from Uncle CE he's lived here in Greens Pond all his life he's seen the good times and the bad what does Uncle CE think of it all well sir in the in the the years the resettlement came up eh that was Jo's idea to get all the people off the Highland and he thought he was going to get them off green spawn too didn't do it I'll never forget I got a phone call one night in that resettlement time from Wick Collins staff Raider even telegram he said do you see kind I said yes sir look here he said he tells me he said that the gree Pond is be going to become Bird Rock I said who the hell told you that just like that well boy said that's all the news up around there my dear man I says look there be people living on greens Pond 50 years from now what he said I said it boy said I'm am I glad to hear that that's it and I'm going to be right too 25 years are gone now yes you got a lot of fond memories of this place I guess yeah my f years more than I never repeat again I S meor your Tong my son [Music] yes [Music] little wor [Music]

Channel: CBC NL - Newfoundland and Labrador

Views: 81,144

Keywords: Newfoundland, Labrador, CBCNL, CBC, NL, Land & Sea, Land and Sea, Greenspond, fishery, seal

Id: 3qiTb8Fi91Q

Length: 24min 54sec (1494 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 02 2017