Lunenburg "hung on a fish hook"

Hello Everyone,

There’s an old saying that Lunenburg "hung on a fish hook". It means that the future and good fortune of the town relied completely on the success of the fisheries.

For most of our 255 year history, this has been accurate. The first generation of Lunenburgers consisted mostly of farmers. By the time of the second generation, we were well established as a place for shipbuilding and for fishing.

Like many coastal communities in Atlantic Canada, we starting fishing close to shore, then moved out towards the various fishing banks of the North Atlantic.

Canada’s oldest saltbank schooner, Theresa E. Connor, is the flagship of the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic. Launched in December 1938, the schooner was born into a time of danger on the Banks. The Theresa E. Connor did not start fishing until the first months of 1939; in less than a year, the world was at war, again.

Fishing schooners were in danger from enemy U-boats as well as from convoys and large shipping vessels. Torpedoed and cut down, men and vessels were lost at sea.

Theresa E. Connor survived the war years. Equipped with an engine, as well as sails, the men fished from little dories and salted their catch in the hold of the vessel. Eventually the Theresa E. Connor went fresh fishing, as well. This meant that the men still fished from the dories, but the fishing trips were shorter, as the catch was put on ice in the hold. Since the fish were not salted, they were "fresh".

The spirit of adventure has not dimmed along the Atlantic coast. A visit to the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic guarantees memories of the best of Nova Scotia!

Wishing you Smooth Sailing,
Heather