Fishing through the Years

by Samantha Bruce

In the 1920's many fishermen started fishing in their boyhood. Clive Bruce was one of those fishermen. He was born on March 23rd, 1910 in East Baltic, Prince Edward Island. He worked most of his life as a fisherman and when he was not fishing there was always chores to do at home. Most fishermen fished with an older person in their family so they could inherit their licenses and fleet. They fished in boats around 20-30 feet long which had no cabins, horsepower motors or stoves. Their boats were made of wood.

They had no computerized equipment so they had to use a compass or just common sense. In a storm they would have to use the lighthouse or any sign of land. There was always all kinds of fish to catch and many different kinds. Some of those kinds are clams, lobster, hake, scallops, cod, mackerel, quahogs, haddock and queen crabs. Fishermen had to have a license in order to fish a certain kind of fish. They had to fish as many kinds as they could in order to have enough money for the family. Most fishermen in Eastern Kings County fished in Red Point, Basin Head, North Lake and Souris. They fished whenever the season for that kind of fish was open. They fished from Monday until Saturday. They would go out from 4am-6pm. They never fished on Sunday because it was considered the Lord's day and you weren't suppose to work.

Fishing affected their families especially the ones with farms greatly because the rest of the family usually had one less family member to help them do their daily chores. Most fishermen liked fishing because fishing and farming was the most popular thing to do then. Today there are just as many fishermen fishing, as there was then, and maybe even more because there use to be around 50 and now there are more than 100. Now the boats are up to 40-50 feet long and have cabins bathrooms, a furnace and a horse power engine. They now have computerized equipment and the boats are made out of fiberglass.

Three generations of the Bruce family