Headlines from this weeks SPEC
Jan. 20, 2002
More than 100 shanties sink in
the Bay of Chaleurs and the Restigouche River
Gilles Gagne
MIGUASHA - More than 100 fishermen shanties located in Escuminac
and Maria sank in the Restigouche River and the Bay of Chaleurs
on January 14th, following the first snow storm of the winter and
very strong northwest winds.
About 130 of the cabins were installed in Escuminac, in the
Pourvoirie de l'Eperlan site near Glen South Road. In Maria,
close to the Gesgapegiag limit, another chunk of 30 shanties left
the cove with the high tide and the wind. In this case, all the
cabins sank. In Escuminac, about 40 shelters were recuperated
late on January 14th, and early the following day.
The ice floes, in both cases, were not as thick and as solid as
they usually are at this time of the year, because of the mild
weather of the last weeks. Pushed by very strong winds, the
Escuminac floe slowly drifted from west to east, passing in front
of Escuminac Flat, Fleurant's Point, and Miguasha. The ice floe
was more than one kilometer in length. At noon, on that Monday,
January 14th, 117 shanties were still visible, slowly moving
towards Dalhousie.
There is also a black market for
the lobster in the Gaspe
Gilles Gagne
Many Canadians recently learned about the existence of a huge
black market for lobster in Nova Scotia, with under-the-table
sales that could top $200 million per year, but according to an
administrator of a fish processing association, an important, but
much more modest in size, black market for the same species also
exists in Quebec.
Jean-Paul Gagne, a Maria native now managing the Association quebcoise
de l'industrie de la peche in Quebec City, thinks the black
market for lobster in the Magdalen Islands, the Gaspe Peninsula
and the North Shore could touch about 30% of the catches. In this
case, it could translate into hidden revenues of more than $5
million per year, maybe $10 million, for fishermen, since annual
catches in Quebec surpass $40 million per year.
Provigo could have saved the
Matapedia distribution centre
Gilles Gagne
The closure of Provigo's distribution centre in Matapedia,
scheduled for March 23rd, creates a lot of uncertainty, not only
for its 51 workers, but also for grocery store owners all over
the Gaspe Peninsula. Other business people living in Matapedia, a
village of 800 citizens, or living in surrounding communities of
Avignon-Ouest also fear the consequences for the local economy of
the loss of this once-thriving distribution centre. The closure
was announced at the end of November.
Owners of medium size grocery stores and depanneurs are the last
clients of the huge Matapedia warehouse, built in 1988 at a cost
of $6 million by Provigo. The company had acquired Atlantic
Distribution, created by the Beaulieu family decades ago, in
1986.