Edward Jesso

Edward Jesso’s Interview

Edward Jesso is a retired fisherman from Sheaves Cove. He has been retired now twenty-four years, after fishing for forty-eight years. He began fishing when he was twelve years old and stopped fishing when he was sixty years old. The reason why he stopped fishing was because he got sick and due to being sick, he could not fish anymore. He then past down his licence to his son, Amab.

Edward fished in Sheaves Cove. He mainly fished cod, salmon, herring, and lobster. He fished in a row dory with oars. There was a lot of fish to catch in those days. He would normally get about three thousand pounds a day.

Edward misses fishing for a living because fishing was his livelihood. He enjoyed fishing for a living. Fishing was kept up from generation to generation. His father fished and now several of his sons fish. Fishing was the main source of income for people in the community. The struggles Edward faced when he fished was rough weather, wind, and cold. There was no fishing seasons at the first when Edward first began to fish, but by the end, there was one. There was no quotas though. People fished from April to November. At the beach where he fished there was fifteen fishermen fishing there.

Due to illness and memory loss, Edward does not have any fishing stories to tell but he did mention that the crab was only allowed to be fished since the last thirty years.