100th annual Fishers’ Memorial Service held in Lunenburg, N.S.

A ceremony to honour those who have lost their lives while fishing took place Sunday in Lunenburg, N.S.

The 100th annual Lunenburg Fishers’ Memorial Service featured music by the Bridgewater Fire Department Band, with local clergy participating in the annual blessing of the fleet.

A roll of honour, read by Lunenburg Mayor Jamie Myra, included the names of fishers who died in the years ending in five over the last century.

“The Fishers’ Memorial Service is at the heart of who we are in Lunenburg. It is a time for us to honour the lives lost at sea, to stand with their families, and to recognize the generations of fishers whose courage and sacrifice built this community,” said Myra in a news release.

“The Town is eternally grateful to all of those who commit to making this such a special service each year – the fishers, their families, our local clergy, the wreath makers, the band, the Fisheries Museum staff and so many more. It’s the community coming together that has made this such a remarkable day for the past 100 years,” said Myra.

People also gathered during the service around a compass-shaped memorial on the waterfront that bears the names of fishers who have died since the early 1900s.

Hilda Russell, a curator at the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic in Lunenburg, says the monument was spurred by the loss of the Cape Aspy. The vessel sank in 1993 in rough weather conditions after leaving the town, resulting in the deaths of three fishers.

“I’ll always remember the first time that I came to see this monument with my husband who is a retired offshore fisher. And what stood out to him was the blank slates, the places where there are no names. And this year is a reminder of that because we had two names added this year, from the vessel Fortune Pride that was lost,” Russell told CTV Atlantic.

She also said the hardships of the sea have become a part of the community’s “coastal cultural fabric.”

“It’s entwined in who we are. There’s a part of us that accept it, but there’s a part of us who still grieve it,” she said.

“We have to always remember where we came from and the struggles and hardships that were involved for us to get where we are today.”

Following the service, wreaths were placed aboard a working fishing boat, which then travelled out to sea.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Mike Lamb.

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