Fischot Island is an island and a former island community in

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. It is part of the Fischot Islands, that lay just east of the

Great Northern Peninsula The Great Northern Peninsula (Inuttitut: ''Ikkarumiklua'') is the largest and longest peninsula of Newfoundland, Canada, approximately 270 km long and 90 km wide at its widest point and encompassing an area of 17,483 km2. It is de ...

, to the south of the town of St. Anthony. The village of Fischot Island had a population of 48 in 1935. The inhabitants of the round island, all resettled to new towns in search of work and better opportunities for raising their families. There were four main families that lived on the island. They were Alyward, Bromley, Davis, and Sexton. Most of these families originally came from

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. The island has been vacant for over 40 years now. The entrance way to Fischot Island is very narrow with shallow water due to many islands in the surrounding area, making it possible for only small boats to enter and lay anchor.

History

Fischot Island was used mainly by the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

to come and dock during the fishing seasons. During

King George's War King George's War (1744–1748) is the name given to the military operations in North America that formed part of the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748). It was the third of the four French and Indian Wars. It took place primarily in t ...

, the British attacked the village in the

Newfoundland Campaign (1744) The Newfoundland Campaign was conducted by the British against the seven French ports and fishing fleet off northern Newfoundland at the opening of King George's War. The British were led by Captain Robert Young of and Captain John Rous of ''Yo ...

. The French people have been fishing there for centuries. In the early 19th century Henry Bromley came to the island. He watched over the property while the French returned to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in the wintertime. He soon married and started a family. Then in the 1850s the island's population then started to grow, and with the increase in population the residents built churches and schools. Before long, Newfoundlanders and French were

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

and living all together on the island. The permanent settlers to the island survived on an economy of fishing, mainly

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...

cod Cod is the common name for the demersal fish genus '' Gadus'', belonging to the family Gadidae. Cod is also used as part of the common name for a number of other fish species, and one species that belongs to genus ''Gadus'' is commonly not call ...

capelin The capelin or caplin (''Mallotus villosus'') is a small forage fish of the smelt family found in the North Atlantic, North Pacific and Arctic oceans. In summer, it grazes on dense swarms of plankton at the edge of the ice shelf. Larger capelin ...

and

herring Herring are forage fish, mostly belonging to the family of Clupeidae. Herring often move in large schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans, i ...

. Winter activities included

hunting Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

and woodcutting on the shores of Hare Bay, especially as there was no timber on the island itself. Agriculture was limited to

root crops Root vegetables are underground plant parts eaten by humans as food. Although botany distinguishes true roots (such as taproots and tuberous roots) from non-roots (such as bulbs, corms, rhizomes, and tubers, although some contain both hypocotyl a ...

and the small number of

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animals ...

raised. Even though the people of Fischot Island were very connected to the people in the surrounding communities, once Newfoundland joined Canada in 1949, they started to suffer from isolation, transportation difficulties, and a lack of essential services. The population of the island kept increasing but this only accentuated the need for improved living conditions in the community. Between 1970 and 1972, resettlement, under the first Federal-Provincial resettlement agreement for the relocation of fishermen, took place from Fischot Island though one family of 4 remained until later, being recorded as 4 in the 1976 census.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fishot Island, Newfoundland And Labrador Populated coastal places in Canada Populated places in Newfoundland and Labrador

History

See also

External links