French Migratory Fishery
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Like most other Europeans, people from France came to Newfoundland to fish. The earliest record of French fishermen going to Newfoundland is from 1504. Fishing was hard but a lot of money could be made from it if you were willing to work. A lot of people depended on the Newfoundland fishery for food.
Salt Cod. (Photo by Jimmy Harris, ©2005.)
Towns and cities in Europe were growing fast, and the people living there ate a lot of fish. Catholics were not allowed to eat meat during religious holidays but they could eat fish. When European fishermen started coming to Newfoundland, about half of the days of the year were religious holidays. Newfoundland salt fish was one of the main types of food eaten on these days. Salt fish was also one of the main foods eaten by armies in western Europe. They needed cheap, easy-to-carry food that would not rot. Salt cod was perfect for this.
When we talk of the French in Newfoundland, we are really talking about a number of different groups who live within the boundaries of present day France. These different people sometimes carried out different types of fisheries and fished in different parts of Newfoundland.
The Bretons
Brittany to Newfoundland. (Prepared for Baccalieu: Crossroads for Cultures by Baccalieu Consulting, ©2005.)
The Bretons came from a part of France called Brittany. Brittany only became a part of France in the early 16th century. Most of the people there did not speak French. Instead, they spoke a language that was more like Welsh or Irish.
Many Bretons fished off the northeast coast between Bonavista and the Strait of Belle-Isle. They called this area 'le Petit-Nord', which means 'the Little North'. They saw this area as theirs and defended it fiercely. Not only the English but other Frenchmen were told to leave if they went to the Petit-Nord.
The Bretons on the Petit-Nord practiced a dry fishery, which means they salted and dried their fish before they returned to Europe. When the crews arrived in Newfoundland in the spring, they built temporary shelters on shore. These included stages. Stages were built running from the land out into the water. They were built out into the water so that boats could come and unload their catches even at low tide. Half the crew would fish from small shallops using a baited hook and a line. The other half of the crew worked on shore. They would remove the head and stomach of the fish. Then they would wash and salt the fish.
The English usually built flakes for drying their fish, but many of the Bretons did not. In areas where there were beaches with lots of large flat rocks, they laid the fish on the rocks to dry. If a boat arrived late and all the good beaches were taken, the crew would have to spend time laying down fir branches or building flakes to dry their fish on. The work was hard. Everyone worked from sunrise to sunset. In late August or early September, they would return to Europe to sell their catch.
The Normans
Normandy to Newfoundland. (Prepared for Baccalieu: Crossroads for Cultures by Baccalieu Consulting, ©2005.)
The Normans came from a part of France called Normandy. Many of the Normans were descended from Norse invaders who had settled in northern France hundreds of years earlier. In the first half of the 16th century, the Normans also practiced a dry fishery, but after 1550 they began a wet fishery on the Grand Banks east of Newfoundland. Instead of drying the fish, they used extra salt to preserve it.
In the 16th century ships involved in the wet fishery were usually between 50 and 70 tons. There would be about a dozen sailors on each ship. These boats made two trips to Newfoundland in a year. They would leave for the Grand Banks in January or February and return to France in time for Lent. France was almost entirely Catholic, so there was a huge need for fish during the holy days of Lent. After Easter, the ships would return to the Grand Banks and fish until they were full.
When a ship arrived on the Grand Banks the crew let it drift. The ship's carpenter and his helpers built a platform over the side of the ship. Barrels were attached to the platform. When ships got bigger, in the 17th century, there was more room on deck so they did not have to build a platform any more.
The crew was divided into fishers and splitters. They worked from sunrise to sunset with a short break at noon for food. The fishers stood in the barrels and covered themselves in large leather ponchos. The barrels kept them from falling off the platform during the long work day. The leather poncho gave them some protection from the water and the wind. They used long lines with lead weights on the end to jig for cod.
When a fish was caught, the fisher cut out the tongue and tossed the fish into a large bin on deck. The splitters took the fish from the bin and removed the head and stomach. Then they salted it. The stomachs were used as bait, and some of the heads were used for the crew's stew. When work ended, each fisher took his cod tongues to the captain. They were proof of how many fish he had caught that day. Whoever had caught the fewest fish had to clean the deck that night.
The Basques
Basques to Newfoundland. (Prepared for Baccalieu: Crossroads for Cultures by Baccalieu Consulting, ©2005.)
The Basques are a separate people from the French. They have their own language and culture but over time they lost control of their country. One part of their country now belongs to France and the other part belongs to Spain. They have a strong fishing tradition. They were one of the first people to catch and cure cod fish.
They came to Newfoundland to fish for cod and hunt for whales early in the 16th century. They fished mainly in Placentia and Trinity Bays where they carried out a dry fishery like the Bretons. The name Placentia may come from a Basque word. By the 1540s they had begun hunting whales in the Strait of Belle Isle, but this fishery was almost over by the beginning of the 17th century.
French Basques sometimes traveled between Newfoundland and Europe with Norman and other French fishermen. Sometimes, they joined the French navy or settled in the French colonies. In Placentia, there is a tombstone for a Basque man who was the captain of a French warship. However, relations between the Basques and the French could sometimes be stormy. In 1690, about 300 Basque fishermen rebelled against the French Governor and soldiers in Placentia.
Conclusion
When the Treaty of Utrecht was signed in 1713, the French lost the right to settle in Newfoundland, but they kept the right to fish along what came to be know as the French Shore. The French migratory fishery continued in this area for almost 200 years. Then, in 1904, the colony of Newfoundland was granted undisputed possession of the French Shore.