latter part of the 19th century, there were also several brick- 
     
     yards and cooper shops in the Region. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Today the Evangeline Region has about 70 small and 
     
     medium-sized businesses, mainly in the service sector of 
     
     building and renovating. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The Co-operative Movement 
     
    
   
   
    
     The Evangeline Region is well known for its co-operatives, 
     
     which affect virtually every aspect of society. The early co- 
     
     operative groups date back to the 1860s when the farmers 
     
     in Egmont Bay joined forces to form grain and seed banks. 
     
     Several decades later, they established a cheese factory and a 
     
     butter factory, along with other agricultural co-operatives for 
     
     purchasing, shipping and livestock breeding. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The co-operative movement became extremely important 
     
     during the years of the Great Depression. Numerous fisher- 
     
     men’s co-operatives, credit unions and consumer co-opera- 
     
     tives sprang up in the 1930s. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Since 1960, various co-operatives have been established in 
     
     the tourist industry and in the production and service sec- 
     
     tors. The most notable of these are the tourism complex, the 
     
     medical centre, the nursing care centre, the funeral home 
     
     and the students’ school supplies co-op. In 1993, there were 
     
     18 co-operatives in the Evangeline Region with total assets of 
     
     25 million dollars. It is not surprising, therefore, that the 
     
     Evangeline Region takes pride in its slogan “World capital of 
     
     co-operation.” 
     
    
   
   
    
     Economic life 29 
     
    
   
   
    
     The lobster cannery in 
     
     Abram’s Village in 1946. 
     
     This cannery was built in 
     
     1938 by the newly cre- 
     
     ated Egmont Bay Fisher- 
     
     men’s Co-operative Asso- 
     
     ciation Ltd. That same 
     
     year they shipped 30,000 
     
     pounds of live market 
     
     lobsters to the United 
     
     States for which the fish- 
     
     ermen received between 
     
     171, cents and 19 cents 
     
     per pound. They received 
     
     9 cents per pound for 
     
     canner lobsters. Today 
     
     this cannery is owned by 
     
     the Acadian Fishermen’s 
     
     Co-operative Association 
     
     Ltd. that unites fishermen 
     
     from various villages in _ 
     
     Prince County. (Jeanne 
     
     Arsenault Collection, 
     
     Musée acadien)