In the days of wooden boats, there wasn't a community on the North
Coast that didn't have at least one boathouse where someone stored and
maintained a fishing boat, and perhaps even built one. The salmon canneries
required continual replenishment of their fleets. Prince Rupert, the largest
town on the North Coast, became the centre for the marine industries, and even
the mighty drydock spent much of its time building fishing boats. Truly, it was
the fishing industry that shaped wooden boatbuilding on the North Coast.
The days of the wooden boat are almost gone now. There are still
wooden boats that need to be maintained, and a small number of people who still
have the skills, but they are getting fewer as the years pass. The great heyday
of wooden boatbuilding on the North Coast was from the mid-1920s to the 1960s,
though it started before the turn of the century. Wooden boats were the only
option for smaller vessels. The only other choice of material was steel. It
wasn't until the 1960s that fiberglass and aluminum became viable
alternatives.
The Mosquito Fleet
There was plenty of other activity on North Coast waters in the
early twentieth century, and before the advent of seaplanes after World War II,
boats were the only form of transport. Loggers needed work boats to get around
and haul their booms, and the forestry officials needed boats to keep tabs on
them. Prospectors had whatever type of craft they could afford. Small passenger
ferries transported people between communities, and out to camp. There were
those from Prince Rupert who could afford a yacht or cruiser to go on a fishing
trip or hunting expedition. All of these vessels, along with the fishing boats,
made up what was commonly known as the 'Mosquito Fleet'. Compared to the big
steel coastal steamers and freighters, the little wooden boats with their gas
engines were like bugs that buzzed in and out of harbour.
The North Coast Fishing Industry
Changes in the fishing industry dictated changes in
boatbuilding. While there was always a fairly steady call for halibut boats and
salmon trollers, it was the sudden demand for salmon gillnetters in the late
1920s that was responsible for the boom in boatbuilding and for keeping it
going into the 1960s.
Canning salmon was the first major fishing industry. The first
cannery opened at Inverness on the Skeena River in 1876. More canneries were
built along the Skeena, the Nass, and in isolated bays like Lowe Inlet until
there was a total of more than sixty canneries from Rivers Inlet north. In
1926, the peak year for canneries, there were 43 canneries operating.
In the early days, the main method of fishing was gillnetting
from small open boats powered by oar and sail. One person, the puller, rowed,
while the fisherman set and hauled in the net. At first these were flat-bottom
skiffs, but soon the boat design developed on the Columbia River became adopted
everywhere. The Columbia River boats were the standard wooden fishing boat in
the north, and the government kept it that way until 1923. That year
legislation was passed which finally allowed northern boats to be powered.
Some of the first powered gillnetters were simply Columbia River
boats with a gas engine installed, and a little cabin to keep it dry. But
gradually, canneries built rental fleets, and some fishermen acquired their own
boats. Seine boats also came into wider use as fishing policies changed.
The troller was always an independent fisher who in the early
days of the industry sold to canneries and to the cold storage plants in Prince
Rupert which shipped out frozen fish on the new Grand Trunk Pacific Railway.
The same plants and access to the railway stimulated the halibut fishing
industry. Almost all the halibut caught in the North Pacific, whether Canadian
or American, was sold at auction at the Prince Rupert Halibut Exchange, and
Prince Rupert truly was the Halibut Capital of the World from the 1920s to the
1960s.
Contributions of First Nations, Japanese and Scandinavian
Boatbuilders
Shipwrights from diverse backgrounds worked in the boatbuilding
and repairing industry and all made their contributions to the legacy of North
Coast boatbuilders. However, three different groups with seafaring roots stand
out.
First Nations people were the first work force the salmon
canning industry turned to. Their traditional knowledge of the fishing in
northern waters could be applied to new fishing methods, and men who had been
skilled canoe makers transferred this knowledge to boat repair. Over the years,
many First Nations men worked in the cannery boat shops. One of the most
well-known was Alvin Leask of Metlakatla. In their home communities, many First
Nations men built boats, like Jimmy Nelson of Kitkatla and the Leightons in
Metlakatla. Fred Dudoward of Port Simpson had his own boatshed and house on
Inverness Passage between Inverness and North Pacific Canneries.
Japanese-Canadians who emigrated to Canada despite restrictive
laws found the salmon industry to be one of the few places where they could
work. Many Japanese men went to work in the canneries early in the season to
prepare the fleet of gillnet boats, both in the days of the sailing boats and
the powered boats. Some established their own shops and built boats on contract
to the canneries. Other Japanese boatbuilders went into business on their own.
In Cow Bay the Sugas, Suehiro and Matsumotos all had yards, while in Osland,
the Sakamotos built around 50 boats. They were all expelled from the coast
during World War Two, and few Japanese boatbuilders came back. One who did was
Jack Tasaka who built more than 200 boats at the Port Edward Cannery
boatyards.
A large proportion of new settlers on the North Coast in the
early twentieth century were Scandinavian, and they established a number of
fishing communities as well as making their homes in Prince Rupert. They made
significant contributions to the fishing industry. Look at any list of North
Coast fishers and you're bound to see many Scandinavian names, and descendants
of the original settlers still live in Prince Rupert. Many of the Norwegian,
Swedish and Icelandic fishermen also built boats for themselves and as a
business. In Oona River alone, there were eight boatbuilders, including John
Group who built close to 90 boats. Several families built boats in Osland, and
Emil Rosang worked in Lawson Harbour. And of course the most successful
boatbuilders were the Wahls from Norway, who launched over 1100 boats.
Table of
Contents Next
