Ramea is a small village 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 ...

located on Northwest Island, one of a group of five major islands located off the south coast of

Newfoundland 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 ...

. The island is approximately 3.14 km long by 0.93 km wide (1.95 miles by 0.58 miles). The other major islands in the

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Archi ...

are Great (or Big) Island, Middle Island, Harbour Island, and South West Island. Ramea is inaccessible by road and is serviced by an intra-provincial ferry in Burgeo.

History

The community, originally settled in the early 19th century for its proximity to rich fishing grounds and safe anchorages, was once a thriving fishing village. The town of Ramea was incorporated in 1951. It was probably named for Le Ramée, a street in

Saint Peter Port St. Peter Port (french: Saint-Pierre Port) is a town and one of the ten parishes on the island of Guernsey in the Channel Islands. It is the capital of the Bailiwick of Guernsey as well as the main port. The population in 2019 was 18,958. St. P ...

, the capital of

Guernsey Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency. It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...

. From 1949 to 1970, businesswoman

Marie Penny Marie Penny ( 1970), also spelled Penney, was a Canadian businesswoman who owned and operated one of the largest frozen-fish companies in Newfoundland during the 20th century. She operated John Penny & Sons in Ramea from 1949 until her death in 1970 ...

owned and operated John Penny & Sons, one of the largest frozen fish companies in Newfoundland during the 20th century. Since the

cod moratorium In 1992, Northern Cod populations fell to 1% of historical levels, due in large part to decades of overfishing. The Canadian Federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, John Crosbie, declared a moratorium on the Northern Cod fishery, which fo ...

of 1992, the isolated community has struggled to survive, having declined to about 50% of its peak population of 1,120 in the 1970s. A

Come Home Year Come Home Year is a Canadian civic event for many towns that encourages a return to home town. Due to significant economic migration away from many of the small rural towns these events draw many generations to celebrate. In 2000, there was a prov ...

for Ramea was held in 2009. Ramea is home to a large number of plants, which include the purple pitcher plant and bakeapple. Furthermore, the island and surrounding islands serve as a fall and winter home to many migratory seabirds.

Wind energy

In 2004, Ramea was chosen for the site of Canada's first wind-diesel demonstration project was completed with the support of CETC-Ottawa. Six 65 kW wind turbines were installed on the island of Ramea, Newfoundland. The objective of the project was to demonstrate that the Wind-Diesel Integrated Control System (WDICS) can be used to displace diesel power generation by introducing wind to the island's grid and to show significant energy efficiency and reliability for northern, remote or isolated locations. The wind-diesel pilot program generates around 400,000 kWh electricity annually. Ramea was selected as the pilot site for a Wind-Hydrogen power system. The project is being undertaken by

Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro (NL Hydro), commonly known as Hydro, is a provincial Crown corporation that generates and delivers electricity for Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as portions of Quebec and the north-eastern areas of the United ...

in partnership with

Natural Resources Canada Natural Resources Canada (NRCan; french: Ressources naturelles Canada; french: RNCan, label=none)Natural Resources Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Natural Resources (). is the depa ...

Memorial University Memorial University of Newfoundland, also known as Memorial University or MUN (), is a public university in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, based in St. John's, with satellite campuses in Corner Brook, elsewhere in Newfoundland and ...

University of New Brunswick The University of New Brunswick (UNB) is a public university with two primary campuses in Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick. It is the oldest English-language university in Canada, and among the oldest public universities in North Americ ...

and Frontier Power Systems. The wind-hydrogen system was due for completion in April 2010. In 2018 it was reported that the project was experiencing difficulties and was shut down.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...

, Ramea had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Activities

There are a number of walks on the island. The walk also includes the wind-diesel plant. Walking to the island's highest point on top of Man O'War Hill offers excellent views of

and across to White Bear Bay. Every year the islands plays host to a traditional music festival on the second weekend of August. Many people living in the community enjoy hunting different species of seabirds, such as Eider Ducks and

Murres ''Uria'' is a genus of seabirds in the auk family known in Britain as guillemots, in most of North America as murres, and in Newfoundland and Labrador as turr. These are medium-sized birds with mainly brown or black plumage in the breeding s ...

(Turres).

Neighbouring communities

West - Burgeo East - Grey River

References

External links

The Town of RameaMarital structure and genetic heterogeneity of Ramea Island, NewfoundlandSt Boniface All Grade SchoolRamea - Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador, vol. 4, p. 518-520.
{{Authority control Road-inaccessible communities of Newfoundland and Labrador Populated coastal places in Canada Towns in Newfoundland and Labrador Fishing communities in Canada