Page 58 - With Wilfred Poirier, Lobster Buyer

ISSUE : Issue 33

Published by Ronald Caplan on 1983/6/1

There's the time I had an argument with Fr. Poirier--he' s my cousin.. He and I didn't get along. He said we weren't paying e- nough--12 to 16 cents a pound. "Well, I'll see if the fishermen want to sell. I'm not going to give them more than they ask. I'm doing business for a company. They've got to live, and I've got to live. If they don't want to ship them, or sell them, let them go somewhere else." (If the fishermen had organized and asked for one cent more, would they have gotten it?) Oh, yeah. Yeah, they'd have got a couple of cents more yet. (But they never did?) No. There might have been a couple here and there, you know, they wanted their own way. So I told them, "You've got so many buyers, dealers in Bos? ton. Ship there." Didn't bother me. If I lost one man, that didn't bother me. (Did you have an easier time in the Catho? lic districts than in the Protestant dis? tricts?) I had a Protestant district down the Eastern Shore were my best fishermen. They didn't look at religion. Ah well, there, sometimes somebody died--I went to church, to the funeral with them. (It sounds like you did an enormous job. Did you physically handle the lobsters?) No, no. What we'd do, we'd weigh the crate, I'd look at the lobsters, see what condi? tion they were in. Then we'd weigh them, then I'd pay him. On consignment I didn't have to do that. (Were you taking the lob? sters to the train yourself?) No, no. I'd tell them the train would be down and pick up your lobster. (And the fishermen took them to the train?) Right. I'd tell them the day they've got to ship. And I wasn't there; I'd be somewhere else. But they were shipping. I'd have a fellow was my buyer. He was a buyer from the fishermen. I used to give him so much to take care of the lobsters. And he'd ship them all by rail. Canso by boat, all along the Eastern Shore--all by boat. I might have shipped two truckloads, I remember. We had one well-smack, used to go down Main-a-Dieu and along the Eastern Shore there. They'd buy them, see. The lobsters alive in the pool of water in mid-ship. They'd stay a- live all the way to Boston. (How could you be in all those places?) I covered it, I started way up in Richibucto, Baie Chaleur, New Brunswick--in the fall, that was. That was August and September, till the 28th of September. And in the spring, the 1st of March. In the winter was from Yarmouth to Sambro--that was starting in December. First of December, and it lasted till the last of March--they had a long season there. Here, it was the 1st of May. Same in Newfoundland. (So you were in different sections for different seasons?) That's right. (You would not be- there every day, I guess. You would pick up the lobsters how often, in one place?) Well, sometimes it would be, in one place. i MEMBERSHIP NOTNUMBERSmP Your Credit Union Provides Full Financial Services. for Your Kind of Lifestyle. We believe in people working together for a better future . . . and a better now! Our services prove it. Credit union savings plans help you make the most of your money. Chequing services help you handle your daily finances easily and conveniently. Loans, mortgages and registered savings plans are available to help you with your big goals. Credit unions provide sound advice when you need it and always a friendly staff to give you personal service. You can count on your credit union to help meet your goals for the future or your plans for the present • for your kind of lifestyle. PRINCESS CREDIT UNION LTD. 154 Main St., Sydney Mines (736-9204) NORTH SYDNEY CREDIT UNION LTD. 210 Commercial St., North Sydney (794-2535) NEW WATERFORD CREDIT UNION LTD. Piummer Ave., New Waterford (862-6453) GLACE BAY CENTRAL CREDIT UNION LTD. 57 Main St., Glace Bay (849-7512) COADY CREDIT UNION LTD. West Ave., Glace Bay (849-7610) RESERVE MINES CREDIT UNION LTD. Main St., Reserve Mines (849-4583) SYDNEY 95 Townsend -'' • ' • ''' • 1164 Kings Rd., LOUISDALE CREDIT UNION LTD. Louisdale (345-2015) ST. JOSEPH'S CREDIT UNION LTD. Petit de Grat (226-2288) PORT HAWKESBURY CREDIT UNION LTD. Reynolds St., Port Hawkesbury (625-0190) PORT HOOD CREDIT UNION LTD. Port Hood (787-3246) MABOU CREDIT UNION LTD. Main St., Mabou (945-2003) LEMOYNE CREDIT UNION LTD. Grand Etang (224-2015) CREDIT UNION LTD. St., Sydney (562-5593) Sydney River (539-1684) (58)

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