Returning from the tip of the Bonavista Peninsula we decide to stop in town at a supermarket. We are in need of provisions and we are not sure what is available where we are going today. After topping of our supplies we then continue to the next attraction in town, Ryan Premises National Historic Site, which commemorates the rich history of the Newfoundland cod fishery and tells the story of the Ryan family who pioneered generations of business success in the fishery.
After paying the fee we receive an explanation on how the site is set up. There are two buildings that have exhibits, one that has a gift shop and one that only opens at 2PM so we have time to burn if we want to see it. So we start with the exhibits in the first buildings that are setting up the stories that we are going to explore throughout the exhibits.
We knew from Google Maps that somehow the Bonavista Museum is also in the building but didn’t understand if it is separate or it has an additional entrance fee. Now we know, no additional fee, it is simply located on the top floor in the first building occupying one room. We explore it carefully under the watchful eyes of the host before descending back to the ground level.
From here it is time to move to the second building which has a lot more exhibits. They are focused on fishing and hunting in the area, specifically the fishing of cod and the clubbing/hunting of seals.
It starts off showing how abundant both the cod and the seals where. It was the envy of all surrounding areas with the cod everywhere and French, English and Portuguese fishermen competing for catches. Seal wise it became important as the market increases for pelts and seal oil.
Initially it was smaller boats that soon became larger and larger. And then the unions were created to help the fishermen by buying the fish with cash and selling goods to them at reasonable rates circumventing the merchants that were buying fish on credit and then selling goods back at inflated prices. The crowning achievement was of course Port Union the city we have visited the day prior, how everything is connected….
And then came the mega-ships that could catch and process lots of fish and do it faster and faster. Neither the cod nor seals could keep up and the populations plummeted leading to a moratorium that is still in force as the populations still haven’t recovered after 30 years. There are quite a few examples here how garbage in garbage out works for example the the yearly quotas were set based on previous year catches without taking account the improvements in fishing efficiency. So even though cod populations were plummeting the catches were increasing and quotas were increasing with them. The result was a 75% decrease in cod stock overall, a 30 year moratorium that is still ongoing for the foreseeable future and the demise of Newfoundland fisheries, if only something could have been done earlier, right?
With that sad story in mind we exit the building to take some photos from the shore. The buildings must have been quite impressive when the fishermen were coming here to sell their catch and get exploited by the Ryan family.
As it is two in the afternoon it is time to visit the building that is open only starting at two. No idea why, if we are paying the entrance fee you would expect everything to be open but in this case it is not true. The building is the Proprietor’s House where the general manager was staying while supervising all the activity.
And we are the first visitors today with the guide taking us through the buildings while pointing out to us that the furniture is period appropriate but not the original one. Still it is nicely set up and we enjoy our short exploration.
There are only a few rooms that can be visited as the upstairs is close off. There is a bedroom, a few small photo exhibits and the storage area and then it is time to leave, next on our list is Elliston where we want to see some root cellars if possible.
