Alphonsus Lainey

Alphonsus Lainey’s Interview

1. How long has it been since you last fished? Its been six years since I last fished.
2. How many years did you fish? I fished for forty years.
3. How old were you when you began fishing for a living? I first began fishing when I was fourteen years old.
4. How old were you when you stopped fishing for a living? I stopped fishing when I was fifty-five years old.
5. Did you seek further employment after you stopped fishing? If so, what kind of employment did you seek? No I did not seek further employment after I stopped fishing.
6. What was the reason behind your stopping fishing for a living? Was it because of age, sickness, etc., or was it for another reason entirely different? The reason why I stopped fishing was because I took early retirement. I also thought that there would eventually be no fish to fish.
7. Was fishing at that time the main source of income for people in your community? Yes, fishing was the main source of income for people in my community.
8. Around what area (location) did you fish? I fished in area 13A and 13B (Cape St. George and Port-au-Port Bay (Gulf side)).
9. What did you fish? (Lobster, crab, cod, etc.) I fished lobster, crab, lumpfish, herring, salmon and cod.
10. What equipment did you use for fishing? (Maybe comment on how the equipment has changed over the years. For example, the use of hydraulics over the last few years). When I first began fishing I used a dory but after a few years, I began using an outboard motor boat.
11. Was there a lot of fish to catch at that time? (Try to get a rough estimate at the catch size) There was lots at first, but over the last fifteen or so years the catches have been poor.
12. Do you miss fishing for a living? What aspects of it do you miss the most? Why? Yes I miss fishing because I was so use to going fishing, that when I stopped I started to miss it.
13. Was it an occupation that you enjoyed to do or was it an occupation that you had no other choice but to do? I enjoyed to fish for a living. But when they came up with the licence, it started to turn me off from fishing.
14. Was fishing an occupation that was kept up from generation to generation in your family? Yes, fishing was an occupation that was kept up from generation to generation.
15. What kind of struggles did you have to face everyday when you went on the water to fish? (Ex. Weather, lost or damage of equipment, etc.). The struggles I faced was wind, rough weather and the cold.
16. Was the fishing season the same in the past as it is today? (Mention difference if any) There was no fishing seasons. People fished from April to November. There was no quotas. Over the last five or six years, there was a quota.
17. How many people fished at the location where you fished? There was eight people at first when I started fishing. But by the time I stopped fishing, there was only three.
18. Do you have any fishing stories that you will like to share? (Try to get at least one) About fifteen years ago, I got my first trap-hauler made by a man named John Greene. Once people seen how easier it made fishing, everyone began getting them. I started the trend of making fishing easier.
19. Other additional information that may be mentioned throughout the interview. For employment when I started fishing, you would get eleven dollars every two weeks. Arsene Felix should have a video of the fishermen at the Cape.