Trinity Bay North’s central economic activity has always revolved around its fisheries. The town of Port Union is home to the Fishermen’s Protective Union of 1908, and is the only union-built town in North America. In 1957, Fisheries Products International built a large plant in Port Union to process ground fish. At its peak, the plant employed over 1,500 workers – and many of the region’s services and shops revolved around the plant. With its protected deep-water harbour supported by its union-based history of egalitarianism for fishers, it welcomed people from surrounding communities into its workforce.
In 1992, when the Canadian government declared a moratorium on the Northern Cod fishery, the plant closed and the community’s economic activity plummeted. In 1998, the facility reopened as a shrimp plant, employing 200 workers. However, adversity struck again in 2010, when damages from Hurricane Igor resulted in the plant’s closure. Only a year later, the seal tannery located in Catalina announced it would not be processing pelts, adding further economic strain with the loss of an additional 90 positions.
Yet while the Municipality of Trinity Bay North still faces many challenges in terms of industry and employment, there are encouraging signs of renewal. In 2012 the community’s residents came together to mount a successful campaign to save the local school, Catalina Elementary. The Municipality is collaborating with other towns in the region to take advantage of the tourism potential provided by the many historic, geologic and culturally significant sites in the area.
