Not all Newfoundland communities benefit from aquaculture
Canada: Mayor of Rencontre East, Tom Caines, is not very optimistic about the community's future. He does not think neither aquaculture nor fisheries will provide necessary opportunities for the younger population. He's not encouraging young people to stay. "There is nothing to stay for", he said in an interview recently.
His community has been from about 350 residents to only 120 today. The decline is not unlike many other isolated Newfoundland communities.
In an article in The Coaster online, the mayor said "I'm very concerned about the future of Rencontre East. Our young residents are going out to post-secondary institutions of learning and with our older people passing on, our population, unless something drastic happens, will continue to decline."
Mr. Caines was not very optimistic about the growing aquaculture industry in Newfoundland either. "I can't see our young people staying or coming back for the traditional fishery or for aquaculture, even if it does happen on a big scale in our local area." While aquaculture projects are making a difference in some Coast of Bays communities, Mayor Caines said he doesn't see it making a major impact in his area.
"Even if aquaculture projects took off in a big way down here our local fish harvesters are not going to work on the projects," Mayor Caines said. "We have 18 full-time fish harvesters here and altogether the fishery employs 45 people. I can't see a lot of young people coming back to work in aquaculture and there are not enough young people here to fill many jobs."
