SPEC Headlines, May 11, 2003

Magazine Gaspésie turns forty this year
Charlene Eden

    Magazine Gaspésie is celebrating its fortieth birthday this year.  Two
young priests founded the magazine, which until 1981 was called the Revue
d¹Histoire de la Gaspésie. During its forty years, the magazine has helped
to illuminate the history and patrimony of the Gaspésie.
    The idea for the magazine came about during Quebec¹s Quiet Revolution.
Its two founders, Claude Allard and Michel Lemoignan, felt that the magazine
was necessary to ensure that the history of the Gaspésie was preserved.  ³We
had the impression that things would change at a very accelerated rate.  But
as I was rooted in the old times, along with Michel Lemoignan, we had other
concerns.  We said to ourselves: Be careful, we must not throw everything
away because times are changing.  The fear of things disappearing or being
forgotten persuaded us to start this magazine,² said Mr. Allard.
    

Fabrication Delta  undertake another expansion
$1.1 million to speed-up  wind tower construction
Gilles Gagné

    SAINT-SIMÉON - Six months after finishing the first phase of a $250,000
expansion aimed at building wind towers, Fabrication Delta, of Saint Siméon,
will erect another wing to their existing complex, in order to manufacture
by September one 150 foot-high steel tower per week.
    This fifth expansion since the creation of the company in 1986 will
necessitate an injection of $1.1 million, taking the form of a new  9,000
square foot building and sophisticated equipment to bend steel, especially a
huge roll imported from Italy.

"It will be the only such equipment made to bend steel for wind energy
purposes in Canada. For now, we are also the only company in North America
to mount the towers vertically. The concrete foundation for the big roll
will be ready before the end of the summer", explains François Arsenault,
president of Fabrication Delta.
    The new expansion could have a significant impact on manpower.
Fabrication Delta now employs 40 people, a number that could soar to 55 by
the end of 2003, to 75 in 2004 and 100 in 2005.


Crab fishermen launch a boycott of Ottawa's management plan
They want to prevent other fishermen from catching crab
Gilles Gagné

CAMPBELLTON - Snow crab fishermen of the Southern part of the Gulf of Saint
Lawrence have launched a boycott of the start of the season because they do
not agree with the management plan of Fisheries and Oceans Department,
allowing permanent quotas to cod and lobster fishermen.

In a unanimous vote taken in Campbellton on May 5th, two days after four
boats and a processing plant were destroyed by a fire in Shippagan, New
Brunswick, 116 traditional crab fishermen decided to leave their gear on the
wharves or bring them back to their home. And if they go at sea, their only
goal is to block the access to the resource for other fishermen. Only seven
traditional crab fishermen were absent at the meeting.