The Gulf of Georgia Cannery Society is putting together a team of volunteers to capture the stories of Canada’s West Coast fishing industry.
With support from the federal government’s Canada’s New Horizons for Seniors Program, the Steveston-based society is recruiting and training a team of volunteer interviewers to speak to seniors who fished commercially, worked in a cannery, or otherwise played a role in the fishing industry.
These interviews will be digitally recorded and made available to the public through a new online database.
“We are very pleased to be able to connect with people who have contributed to one of Canada’s most significant industries,” said Rebecca Clarke, the society’s executive director.
“The fishing industry has changed so much and it’s important to save the stories of the men and women who spent years of their life working in it.
“We want to make sure their stories are available for future generations to understand what it was like.”
Steveston-Richmond East MP Joe Peschisolido said the society’s “timely oral history project will help preserve for generations to come, the memories and stories of people who worked in the west coast fishing industry.”
The society launched the oral history project this year and will continue collecting stories for years to come.
The online database will go public this spring, with future interviews to be added regularly.
If you are interested in participating, the society is looking for volunteers to help collect interviews, and for people who worked in the fishing industry and are willing to share their story.
For more information about the project, or to volunteer, contact collections manager Heidi Rampfl at Heidi.Rampfl@GogCannery.org or 604-664-9007.
