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fishing the north atlantic

I've never gone out with the intention to build a portfolio of images portraying the inshore fishing industry.  Nevertheless I have one, quite simply as a function of the types of location I've been to these last fifteen years or so.  I like the sea and most things that come with it, and so places like Newfoundland, Faroes, Nova Scotia etc have been logical destinations for me - not just because of the fishing, but certainly including it.

It would be grand if I could tell you that the sort of small-scale inshore fishing I photograph is in rude health, but I can't.  Quotas, declining catches, fish farming and large-scale factory fishing all take a major toll. The incidence of a fisherman sailing daily in home waters, maybe with his son, or brother or friend, and returning to prepare their catch for sale in a wooden shack is in sharp decline, though it can still be seen often in areas off the beaten track where other employment opportunities are sparse.  They need to be a lot more flexible these days, switching from cod to bass to lobster and so on as seasons and quotas dictate.  I doubt it's a way to get rich, and its certainly not a way to source fish cheaply, so increasingly there are signs that the fishing has indeed gone.  Disused fishing boats pile up on Brittany's shoreline.  A fair proportion of the fishing boats I see don't look like they move much, and many of the little brightly painted fishing shacks and tiny jetties are not exactly hubs of activity.  Still it exists, and probably will, on a limited scale, for a while yet though I doubt that many youngsters are coming into it now. 

I need to add also that my perceptions of fishing often include murky weather.  Some of these photographs were taken in rain.  Others in dull, overcast conditions.  The odd gleam of light is nice, but I tend to avoid bright skies and summery light for this subject. 

01.  Twillingate, Newfoundland
02.    Blue Rocks,   Nova Scotia
3.  Bonaventure, Newfoundland
4.  Triton, Newfoundland
5. Carrelet, Medoc, France
5.  Salvage, Newfoundland
06.  Crozon, Brittany
8.   Connemara, Ireland
9.  South Stoneboro,  Nova Scotia
10.  Salvage, Newfoundland
11   Old Bonaventure_Newfoundland
12.  Peggy's Cove
13.  Boothbay Harbour,  Maine
14.  Blue Rocks, Nova scotia
15.  Bonaventure, Newfoundland
16.  Salvage, Newfoundland
17.  Nova Scotia
18.   Blue Rocks,  Nova Scotia
19.  Faroes
20. Crozon,  Brittany
21.  Back Harbour, Twillingate,  Newfoundland
22. Campobello Island, Canada
23.  Corea, Maine
24.  Crozon, Brittany
25.  S Stoneboro,  Nova Scotia
26  Greenspond,  Newfoundland
27  Camaret, Brittany
28.  Etretat,   Normandy
29.    West Dover,  Nova Scotia
30.   Djupavik,  Iceland
31.  Stonington, Maine
32.  Crozon,  Brittany
33. Twillingate, Newfoundland
34.  Hibbs Cove,  Newfoundland
35.  Salvage, Newfoundland
36.  Camaret,  Brittany
37,  New  Bonaventure,   Newfoundland
38.   Newfoundland
39.  Triton,  Newfoundland
40. Triton,   Newfoundland

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