Fishermen can now afford to build a third of their gear each year. This insures they have a new gear built every three years,

to add to their very modern fishing fleet. Everything was a struggle back in those early pioneer days of

fishing. With no modern freezing units as we see today at the fishing harbours, great preparation had to be made, so the fish caught could be kept well iced and frozen for the marketplace

and for family use. Groups of fishermen would work together during the cold

winter season, cutting huge cakes of ice on the rivers by using ice saws and ice carrying tongs. They would haul the loads of ice to buildings at the shore and to fishermen’s property, with horses and sleighs. Myrick and Mac Intosh would use many teams of horses and bobsleigh’s and people would gather to

watch the activities that were going on. The buildings to store the ice were called icehouses. Large

loads of sawdust would be hauled from the sawmills in the area to cover and preserve the ice. Fishermen would then have ice for all of their needs until the buildings were cleaned out the

following year. With fishermen working together and gaining in strength,

more boats were appearing each spring at Jude’s Point. This, father remarked, was the step fishermen needed to set up the Fishermen’s Union in 1925, and become masters of their own

desti ny.

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