The Shadow of Protest

The cod fishery is indisputably a shadow of what it was. Most of the areas shut down in 1992 remain closed, with Atlantic cod still considered a threatened species. The landed value of cod in the province was just fifteen million last year.

CBC News, Newfoundland & Labrador, July, 2010
 


Towards Clarenville, (Dories on a Road), o/c, 30" x 48", Steven Rhude, Emma Butler Gallery  


Clarenville, 2003
Fish workers burn Canadian flag in Nfld. protest 
Last Updated Mon Apr 28 19:08:34 2003

ST. JOHN'S-- Angry fish workers burned a Canadian flag on Monday as rallies were held at federal Fisheries Department offices in at least two centres in Newfoundland and Labrador.



The protest, organized by the Fish, Food and Allied Workers, brought about 75 people to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans offices at Clarenville, where they took down the Canadian flag and burned it. They sent the Newfoundland and Labrador flag up the mast to replace it. The protesters say they're reclaiming the fishery from Ottawa Fisheries Minister Robert Thibault announced last Thursday that the already much diminished cod fishery in Newfoundland and Labrador, the Maritime provinces and Quebec would be shut down. Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Roger Grimes is meeting with federal politicians in Ottawa on Monday. He says federal officials don't understand how the closure will affect the region.



"We're asking them to take one more look, because we think they've made a grievous mistake," Grimes told CBC Newsworld on Monday. The protesters say they aren't interested in Ottawa revisiting its decision.

 "It's time for us to control the fishery and the resources around this province," one said.

 DFO staff weren't at the offices when the demonstration began.
At the DFO offices in Corner Brook, protesters said they were hoping to close federal offices throughout the region.

Kevin Hardy, a fisherman and the mayor of Burnt Islands, says the department has shut the fishery, so the workers plan to shut the office.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Canada; Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; Government
KEYWORDS: canada; cod; codfisheries; fishing; flagburning; labrador; newfoundland
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Steven Rhude, Wolfville, Nova Scotia

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