Whipped by fierce winds, fire tears through the Quinlan Brother fish and seafood processing plan in Bay de Verde, Newfoundland and Labrador.

Whipped by fierce winds, fire tears through the Quinlan Brother fish and seafood processing plan in Bay de Verde, Newfoundland and Labrador.
Photo Credit: Terry Roberts/CBC

Fire destroys eastern fish plant and scarce jobs

A state of emergency was called as fire ripped through a fish processing plan in the small community of Bay de Verde, in the eastern province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Electrical power was shut off and people evacuated the area, lamenting what will certainly be the loss of over 700 seasonal jobs.

“This is not good. We have people here now from all over the island (of Newfoundland) and there’s not going to be any work. And we had a boat just off Bay de Verde waiting to come in with the crab … he’s gone up the bay now,” said Gerard Broderick to CBC News. He is a town councillor who worked at the plant.

‘Make you cry’

“(It’s) the livelihood of everyone around here. And it’s going to be devastation. Unbelievable…make you cry, to tell you the truth, make you cry,” said Jim Walsh, a plant worker, to CBC reporter Terry Roberts.

There is little industry in Canada’s eastern-most province. Fishing and fish processing are all that fuels the economies of many small, isolated communities up and down the coast.

Plant provided work for 50 years

For over 400 years the cod fishery off Canada’s eastern shores was one of the richest in the world. But the people of this area suffered a terrible blow when the cod fishery collapsed and was almost eliminated by 1992.

Some fishers moved on to harvest other species. Today’s fire involves the Quinlan Brothers plant, which processed crab, shrimp and groundfish and has existed for more than 50 years.

No alternative jobs

People often work in fish plants during the warmer months and then, when there is no more work, they are eligible to collect unemployment insurance payments from the federal government. For many, there is no alternative work. CBC reports more than 40 temporary foreign workers were employed at the plant and they, like the other workers, are wondering what will happen to them.

(with files from CBC, Canadian Press)

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