The Fishery in Port Morien

The Fishery in Port Morien. . The first recorded commercial fishing activity in Cow Bay occurred when the Bourinot family purchased fish, dried them, and supplied the fishermen. , Lobster factories could be found in both Port Morien and South Head. The factory owned by David T. Leslie was located at South Head, until the early 1900's, in an area known as Sailor Dan's field. It was situated almost directly across the bay from this site. The Alfred Trenholm factory operated from this time until about 1919. Both men later owned factories on the Port Morien side of the bay., In 1941, Herbert H. Hopkins, of Doctor's Cove, Shelburne County, purchased Mr. Leslie's operation, known as Acadia Products. Mr. Hopkins had been running successful seafood businesses along Nova Scotia's south shore, as well as in Mabou., The early Hopkins operation included canning lobsters, processing boneless cod and purchasing a number of other species such as mackerel and herring. From the 1940s until the 1960s, swordfishing was a very prosperous business. Lobsters have been purchased from fishermen on an ongoing basis at the Hopkins plant. H. Hopkins Ltd. expanded to include fish plants in Glace Bay and Louisbourg, as well as buying operations in Newfoundland. At one point it had an extensive trucking business. It remained a family-run business after Mr. Hopkins' death in 1974., With the demise of the cod fishery, as well as other species of groundfish, H. Hopkins continued to purchase and ship shellfish such as lobsters and crab. The fishing industry has sustained the village of Port Morien almost since its beginnings as a coal mining center. The following pictures reflect the transition from sail to modern equipment., (photo captions) , 1. The Morien Peaches at Schooner Pond. , 2. Early fishing fleet in Morien Harbor. , 3. Early fishing vessels in Morien Harbour. , 4. Swordfishing 1940s. , 5. Swordfishing boats from other ports in the late 1940s. , 6. Morien Harbour.