The Chronicle Herald (Provincial)
Town heartbroken by tragedy
‘It’s such a feeling that ‘sad’ doesn’t even describe’
If there is one thing Yarmouth prides itself on, it is for being a fishing community.
A community where men and women work hard, long hours on the sea and on shore and there likely isn't anyone not somehow connected to someone who earns their living on the sea.
There are ups. And there are downs. It's almost like wedding vows. For better, for worse. For richer, for poorer. In sickness and in health. And sometimes, tragically, ‘till death do us part.
Southwestern Nova Scotia has not been immune to loss, heartbreak and tragedy on the sea. Sometimes lives are taken one at a time. Sometimes all at once. Fishing vessel names — like the Miss Ally and the Silver King, as examples — are reminders that a livelihood on the sea is unpredictable. And it can also be cruel.
And now comes more heartache. The scallop dragger Chief William Saulis and its six-member crew was on its way into port on Tuesday, Dec. 15 when something went terribly wrong. Debris from the 50-foot vessel, including empty life rafts, began washing up on shore. A position-indicating radio beacon on the vessel had been activated around 5:50 a.m. There was no distress call and attempts to reach the vessel by cellphone were unsuccessful.
The vessel had been fishing since Dec. 12. Aboard were Capt. Charles Roberts, Aaron Cogswell, Michael Drake, Daniel Forbes, Geno Francis and Leonard Gabriel.
In Yarmouth, where most of the crew members are from, people turned to social media, praying the fishermen would be found safe. On Tuesday evening people hoped their porch lights and candles would serve as a symbolic beacon to guide those missing home as the search at sea for them continued.
It was late Tuesday evening that it was announced a body had been recovered.
“Words certainly don't come easy,” Yarmouth Mayor Pam Mood said in addressing the community Wednesday morning. “Our entire community is absolutely devastated by the news of the lost crew. To the family, friends, of those lost, please know that you are in our thoughts, you are in our prayers, we care so very deeply about you.”
“We are a fishing community first and foremost. Fishing is not a job, it's a way of life,” she said. “Nothing can compare to going out on the sea and nothing can prepare us for what's happened.”
Mood — who knows family members of the crew and who says two of the crew members used to come into her dad's store every day of her childhood life — said a support group is being pulled together to help others.
“We need to care for each other. We need to reach out to your neighbours, to your friends, to the families that need it the most. That's what we need to do right now,” she said.
Mood invited Rev. AJ Plaizier to also offer words of comfort and
prayer. He noted that people are experiencing many mixed emotions, including grief, confusion, sadness and anger.
“We are a people of action down here. We are a bluecollar community. But today is not the day for action, today is the day for grief and mourning and prayer,” he said, offering prayers for the families, for the first responders searching and for the crews of all other fishing boats who continue to work on the water.
In southwestern Nova Scotia the scallop industry runs yearround. Some areas see seasonal closures and others never close. When it comes to the Full Bay Scallop Association, the amount of boats taking part in the fishery ranges from 40 to 70 boats a year.
Alain d'entremont, president of the association, knew Charles Roberts, the captain of the Chief William Saulis, for a long time. The other crew members he knew to say hello to on the wharf. About Roberts he said, “He's well known in the fishery and always came back with an above average trip. He was a pretty fierce fisherman and very good at what he did. Every time I talked to him he was just super polite and just a super nice guy.”
D'entremont said this is a difficult time for the association and also Yarmouth Sea Products, the company that owned the dragger. The company said Wednesday a review of its records indicates that all required maintenance and inspections of safety equipment of the vessel was current and up to date. The company said a black box indicated the vessel appeared to have left the fishing ground at around 1 a.m. on Dec. 15 to head home. The signal stopped around 6 a.m.
“There appears to have been an unknown event causing the vessel to capsize,” the company said in a Dec. 16 media release.
Meanwhile, d'entremont said everyone's thoughts are with the families, as the industry also copes.
“There's a lot of discussion between captains, crews and vessel owners, just trying to make sure that everyone is OK,” he said. “There's a lot of tough conversations with tough scallop fishermen who are breaking down and are all choked up. We all realize that it could have been any of our boats, ourselves, our crews, or even our families out there. It's a horrible tragedy that we hope never happens, but sometimes it does.”
He said Tuesday morning as other scallop boats headed for port in Digby, many turned around to see if they could help when they heard word of what was happening.
“There's quite a bit of sadness around the wharf,” he said.
“At an association level there's been a grassroots effort trying to pull some money together and trying to do fundraising to do something for the families. I expect you'll see a significant buy-in from industry.”
Late Wednesday the RCMP assumed the lead role in the search for the five remaining missing fishermen.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) also said Wednesday it will deploy a team of investigators to investigate the sinking.
In Yarmouth, meanwhile, immense heartache goes on.
Yarmouth resident Ashley Nickerson grew up next door to crew member Daniel Forbes. She was three years old when his family moved in.
“As the years went and we grew up, we all became close,” she said. “Daniel was the funniest person you could ever be around. Always joking, always laughing. If you were sad he always knew how to make you smile and cheer you up. He would do anything for anybody.”
Nickerson considers those who earn their living on the sea to be heroes, risking their lives, she says, on every trip.
“As beautiful and peaceful as the ocean is, at any time if she wants you, she will take you and there isn't a thing you can do,” she said. “But yet every time they take that risk to be able to provide for not only themselves, but for their families. That says something.
“Talking to Daniel's father today, hearing him have to say the words his boy will never walk in the door again, having to say to Daniel's boys ‘dad won't be home' is something I'll never get out of my head,” she said. “It's such a feeling that 'sad' doesn't even describe. All the memories, all the stories, in time will make us laugh and smile again. But for now all we can do is cry and hug each other.”