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Lifelines: Canada's East Coast Fisheries

The Cod Rush
The European Fishermen, 1497-1763
 
The Fishing Community
The Cod Rush: The European Fishermen, 1497-1763

The Fishermen


The Green Fishery | The Dry Fishery | A Day in the Life of a Fisherman


 

The Dry Fishery

A dry-fishery vessel usually had a crew of 110 to 120 men. They were divided into two groups: the fishermen and the shore workers. The first group consisted of 70 fishermen, including 10 who fished for capelin (used for bait). The second consisted of 10 headers and 10 splitters, who removed the head and split the cod open; 20 stage workers (salters, sailors, and carpenters and caulkers responsible for constructing and maintaining buildings, boats, etc.); and 8 apprentices or boys who worked on the shore.


Crew working on the stage 
and the beach - Collection: Nelson Cazeils

Crew working on the stage and the beach
Based on Traité général des pesches, by Duhamel du Monceau,
in Encyclopédie, fisheries plates (Paris: Éditions Panckoucke, 1793)
(Collection of Nelson Cazeils, Biarritz, France)


The shallop fishery - 
Collection: Nelson Cazeils

The shallop fishery (detail), 18th century
Based on Traité général des pesches, by Duhamel du Monceau, in Encyclopédie, fisheries plates (Paris: Éditions Panckoucke, 1793)
(Collection of Nelson Cazeils,
Biarritz, France)


Coastal fisherman - 
Canadian Museum of Civilization

Coastal fisherman, 18th century
Detail of an image from Traité général des pesches, by Duhamel du Monceau, 1772
(Canadian Museum of Civilization)



The Shoremaster | The Salter | The Apprentices and the Boys
Fishing Proprietors | Hired Fishermen


Design


THE SHIPOWNER | THE CAPTAIN AND THE PILOT
THE SURGEON AND THE CHAPLAIN | THE FISHERMEN


 

 
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