Boats

Yesterday was the first day of the "food" fishery in Newfoundland and Labrador. In 1992, the Government of Canada imposed a Cod Moratorium in our province because the cod stocks had been decimated by over fishing. In recent years, the population of cod have been increasing (very slowly) and there is a limited cod fishery in some areas.

This year, people in the province may catch a limited amount of cod for a month or so. I chose photos of boats (taken on the Great Northern Peninsula in July, 2004) for today's photos because there will be many of them on the ocean over the next month or so.

The first photo shows a boat that is rotting into the ocean, and other, much smaller boats tied up nearby. In the past, boats were maintained and used year after year to eke a living from the sea. In recent years I notice more and more boats that have been hauled ashore and, apparently, since they are no longer used, left to rot.

Many families are leaving the province to seek work elsewhere, sometimes leaving their homes and boats behind. Over time the houses and boats fall into disrepair and slowly return to Nature.
I have been photographing old boats and houses for many years and have a visual record of many of them.