Caboto's Diary

Written 20 years ago for a CBC Radio Contest...

                                                      CABOTO’S DIARY

June 10, 1497

My dear King will not believe the strange and fantastical dream that I and my crew experienced last dawn as the sun sank upon this ocean blue.  I call it a dream because I lack any other word to term it ... no, perhaps it was not a dream, perhaps we did indeed slip through the cracks of time.  Perhaps we did see the future? Was it possible?

While I record these words with all my senses intact, my mind still does not yet comprehend the incredible events of last evening - 20 days into our voyage westward.

At approximately 8:15 p.m., the clear still evening  suddenly turned nasty and ominous.  Many of our crew became frightened and visibly upset. While used to inclement and strong weather, the swiftness with which this storm descended upon us caused even me to become alarmed.  I alerted my men to tie themselves on to the boat.   The darkness engulfed us suddenly and after much trashing about of our bodies and our ship, the flashing of lightening and a strange sensation of  having moved at mind-boggling speed, all returned to normal ... or so we thought.

Seemingly, we were still in the same spot but the ocean looked different. No longer was it clear and inviting.  Darkness hid among its waves and much flotsam and jetsam bounced  about.  An oily black substance glistened off  the water’s surface.  Despite many hours of trying, we could not catch nary a fish.  This left us quite puzzled for earlier in the day, the waters had been teaming with cod and other fat fish. One seaman commented that the air did not smell right. We all agreed that the evening breeze felt denser and its acidity bit at our nostrils. 

Suddenly a voice from crow’s nest shouted land. We quivered with excitement at the approaching land and as we neared we saw that it was already inhabited.  Houses on top on houses sat next to each other and tall, tall buildings occupied the skyline and shut out the sun.  Hastily, we went ashore at our landfall.  Astounded and slack-jawed we walked the streets and stared at the people - they did not look happy.  As we spoke to them, they talked only of their misery - unemployment, the depletion of their resources, environmental destruction and many social ills. On and on they spoke of the negative forces which had engulfed their human lives.  They cursed a man who discovered the place 500 years previous and the coming celebrations which would mark this milestone.

My crew and I were taken back by the pessimism which hung in the air like thick, black smoke from a faulty lantern. We returned to our vessel, The Matthew, which looked so puny next to the large and unique ships anchored in the bustling harbour.  None spoke of our encounter as we slipped into sleep.  When we awoke we found ourselves back into another violent storm, which closed quickly.  Our bearings revealed we were  in the same position as before the storm of last evening.  As the crew mumbled breathlessly about the “dream” they all shared, I spoke not and retreated to my cabin to began the day’s entry in my log...

As I write my intuitions tell me that what we experienced was real and that the life we saw was not yet realized, only glimpsed.  I wonder if the man they spoke of and cursed  was me,  Giovanni Caboto  - will I be the one to discover this new found land ? 

My dear King, I am so shakened by what I have forseen that I am inclined to turn around and retreat back to your shores so I do not doom this sacred land.  I do not want to have your name, nor mine, scorned by the mouths by future citizens for generations to come. I pray for an easy resolution to my dilemma.

Later that Day

Fear not my King, after much contemplation my mind is strong - I will continue navigating westward and I will find the land in my dreams and I will start it right from the beginning.  I will call it the Happy Province and I will be the purveyor of optimism and goodwill.  I will send every curmudgeon back to the East and the people who persevere in this land will be known for their smiles and hospitality.  We will have lots of laughter, song  and merriment to hold the negativism at bay.  This isle’s inhabitants will be taught that happiness lies within and that they alone are the navigators of their own fortunes.  Yes, we will be a blessed lot and despite what falls around us,  our noble hearts will not forget the majesty and uniqueness of this new isle with all its natural beauty,  seasons and all its promise. 

I call upon you once again to invoke your greatest blessings upon our voyage and our renewed faith as we head westward to the land that awaits us, to the isle that surely will be the greatest place under the creator.

Vacating the Castle

Once upon a time,  closing in on 30 years ago, I got to live (aka work) in a beautiful castle.

With Cinderella work ethics I, together with my work folks at the Castle, toiled and toiled.  

During that time I got to go to a ball every now and then and have a wonderful experience, chatted with a few fairy godmothers, made friends with some wonderful servants, avoided the basement creatures, had a few encounters with wicked stepmothers,  bore witness to some skulduggery and at times, sweet magical moments appeared out of no where;  but mostly  I just worked.
Most  of the  work I  loved; and well, like others, you made peace with cleaning the soot off the floor when it was needed.

All in all it has been a most wondrous three decades hold up each day inside the walls of that Castle of grandeur that sits atop of Confederation Hill.  The castle was built by King Joey back in the ancient time of the sixties fresh off the  time of the Confederation revolution when brave knights fought for union with the Land of Canada, while other honorable revolutionaries took up arms for the right to remain independent. Overlooking the Capital of St. Jean, the Castle is a splendid place to view the urban setting, but t'is rare you can spy beyond the  overpass.

The castle has so many floors and chambers, it was impossible to get to them all but I managed to work on most levels.  Each floor had its redemptions and new and engaging work; sometimes it was just reward enough to be in the medieval castle, no matter where I was dispatched. For it was the special and kindred peasants that inhabited the varied nooks and crannies of the Castle, including the Tower, that mattered the most and who fortified me through the years. Many were pure people of the land  working hard and driven by a desire to make magic happen, others were lost souls unable to found their way out of the dark basement of their hearts.  Sometimes, knights in shining amour showed up and a few times, black knights stomped through the hallways, rattling swords and instilling fear rather than hope, reminding everyone of their lot in life. 

Especially pleasing, when one had the rare privilege to visit ,  was the exalted chamber, with its  vaulted ceiling containing the Newfoundland and Labrador Coat of Arms in stained glass  and ringed by portraits of former Speakers of the Assembly; and when in session the Chamber could be a bit rambunctious, but oh so exiting as it was the seat of the dear people of our strong and proud land. 

This week, fate has intervened and I  am  assigned to  a new work experience, and therefore,  am exiting the Castle. I am filled with much trepidation and  nostalgia.    At my age, of course it is only fitting that I consider new tasks and new digs. And afterall, who needs the largesse and opulence of such a  large Castle when the ways of youth have passed you by.

The decree has come for me to downsize to the West Block Condominiums, built in the times of Knight Peckford.  Not the same splendor appearance, I do admit;  but I am confident I will encounter creative and kind spirits who will work well and kindly for the Kingdom of Newfoundland and Labrador.  Notwithstanding the rough times that have beset our Kingdom of late, there is an earnest desire by a majority of servants for the New Found Lande to flourish and to become the grand kingdom that we were fated to be since the Italian  Prince Caboto landed on our shores ‎many moons ago.

Still, this Cinderella public servant will always gaze wistfully  at the Confederation Castle that kept her "clothed " and warm, physically and emotionally, for close to 30  years. She will remember the many  Grand  Kings she worked for, the friends made (some lifelong ones); and the magnificent  moments that were woven through her heart and soul as she danced  within the walls of that special Castle on the Hill in the Grand Land of Newfoundland. 

#SpecialPlace  #SpecialTimes

The Cod Conundrum| "A Wicked Problem"

The Atlantic Cod has become a double-sided icon. 

In the glory days of the traditional Newfoundland fishery, it was preeminent badge of our economy and culture as  we shared our  world-famous salt Cod around the globe. There was a reason the good fish was called "King Cod" - it reigned the fisheries' throne for centuries - no other fish came close to toppling this royal piscine species.

Unfortunately, since the 1992 ban on commercially fishing Cod, it has become an icon for something else .... something terribly bad.  Cod researcher George Rose stated it succinctly when he remarked back  in 2003:  "The northern Cod has become an icon for federal mismanagement in the world."  http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/report-recommends-virtual-shutdown-of-northern-cod-fishery-1.357998

While the Cod has rebounded somewhat in the past quarter century since the moratorium, the fact is there is still a long ways to go before there is a rich abundance of our most precious resource.   The latest DFO report (2015 data) states that it has only reached 26%  of  historic levels; and there seems to be no concerted and strategic effort to power it back to its full plentitude.

This is what some researchers call "A wicked problem".  According to http://environment.geog.ubc.ca/in-cod-we-trust-cod-in-atlantic-canada/ 
The term wicked problem was coined by Rittel and Webber (1973) and was used to describe difficult planning in social policy and later related to the environment and resource management. Roberts (2000) stated that defining the problem in the beginning is a problem within itself, with disagreement from stakeholders the main reason with solutions creating further complications. Within the fields of resource management and environmental issues, wicked problems are highlighted by their scientific uncertainty and lack of technological solutions (Gunderson, 1999).

The Cod biomass is certainly a wicked problem given the complexity of issues ranging from lack of solid scientific data about the stock, political interference in fishery management, lack of a strategic recovery mission, land-locked decision-makers, multiple stakeholders from highly-paid lobbyists to lowly-paid harvesters,lack of community engagement and leadership vision, foreign overfishing on straddling stocks, as well as cultural impacts; and there are the multiple solutions that have been advanced to improve the fishery, with most ignored.

According to the authors of "In Cod We Trust - Cod in Atlantic Canada" (2015) ... "The persistence of the problem is contributing to the instability of the social, economic, and environmental aspects." 

In 2003, the federal and provincial governments did get together to form a Cod Recovery Action Team, but there is little evidence  there was any strategic work or advancements on the report and recommendations which followed.   Still, the Cod stocks amble along the road to recovery, aided primarily and ironically, it seems, by  Cod's good Samaritan  - climate change which has created more favourable ocean conditions like warmer waters.

Long-time NL fisheries advocate, Gus Etchegary - who entered the fishery three years before Confederation in 1949 - has continuously stressed that the rebuilding of not just the Cod stock but every other species is the most important goal of our province and country; yet, he feels his message falls on deaf ears:

"Decision-makers do not understand that fish, like every other resource oil, minerals  etc., has to be available in volume and quality. The fishermen cannot earn a living, the processors on the assembly line cannot make a good living and the industry operator cannot make a sufficient profit to pay the harvester nor the processor.  Unless the industry responds to market demands with the variety of quality products required they cannot get the returns from the market or compete with well-managed industries in advanced fishing nations."

So, while the Cod stocks are slowing coming back to our waters, the road ahead is still a long one - and a challenging one, including how to  achieve the 3 Rs - Rebuild, Rebuild, Rebuild.  

This is underscored by the stats in the 2014 John Sackton report  which reveals that the 2014 Cod landings in Newfoundland and Labrador amounted to just over 11,000 tonnes — less than .005 per cent of total Atlantic cod that year, which totalled 1.3 million tonnes.  And DFO's most recent assessment of Northern Cod states that the iconic fish is still in "the critical zone".   The fact that it is still only at 26% of its LFP(Limited Reference Point) 25 years later signals that "the stock is considered to have suffered serious harm and the ability to produce good recruitment is seriously impaired."   

In the meantime, we have to keep an eye on the all-important quality assurance factor  that will ensure our markets; and then there is the infrastructure that will be required to be kept in place and advanced to process Cod as it goes through the various stages of recovery.

Authors of "In Cod We Trust" (Ben Watkins, Alexandre Schoch, Michael Webb, Timothy Wong)  state that - With the many stakeholders and potential economic benefits/losses, the next steps taken are very important ones. There are strategies that have been implemented previously, both for cod and other fish species that have experienced over exploitation. Popular methods include, Marine Protected Areas (MPA), seasonal regulations and quotas.

Still, we have a wicked problem a quarter of a century in, after a near collapse of the stock- to elevate King Cod back to its historic throne as a global powerhouse.  

To do so will require wickedly good collaborative solutions - sooner rather than later;
and in the end, it needs to start with an abundance of Cod.

Codspeed to all of us on this important mission-possible.

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