(sophie fouron) we hear the fog horn in the background. two minutes ago, it was cometely clear. they say that in newfoundland, you can have the four seasons in a day. i think you can have the four seasons in an hour here. it's a big island. it's a huge island. you can't go around newfoundland in a couple of days. we're at the easternmost point in canada. cod has been at the heart of newfoundland's economy and culture for more than 500 years. it hasn't been always easy.

but even with the cod moratorium and falling oil prices, newfoundlanders have kept their sense of community and their sense of humor. probably their best quality. (lisa moore) newfoundland is an island located on the easternmost part of north america. it is the closest to europe that you can get. there is about a half million people in newfoundland,

and the capital, st. john's, has about 150,000. in newfoundland, people are very connected to the sea. i think it is, you know, it is the relationship to the fishery that water is really about here. it's pretty hard to get in that north atlantic. you know, it's pretty chilly. we do it, we do it in the summer, we go diving through, we all run in together yelling. but we're only in for five minutes. (sophie fouron) lisa moore, writer and proud newfoundlander. lisa is known for her stories about local life, and this is her island. (lisa moore) it can be kind of grey. but you know, it can also be very romantic and when things are wrapped in fog, it can be really beautiful and moody, and dramatic with thunder

lightning storms. it is the fine undifferentiated drizzle that can break a soul in asunder. that's the trouble. but what it does is... when the sun comes out, you just feel such heights of euphoria that, you know, it's worth it. (sophie roch) yes! boat rides are a must here. - hi, gordon! (renald belley) hi, gordon! (gordon murphy) hello! - welcome! - thank you!... gordon. - nice to meet you.

(gordon murphy) the ocean has always been a part of my life, always. it's my playground, my backyard. it's a part of me. (sophie roch) he's got saltwater flowing through his veins. (gordon murphy) that's so true. - salt water in the veins. - you got it. (sophie roch) we've been here 14 years. we came here 14 years ago. (sophie roch) the ocean. the first time i went down prescott street, i was terrified during the taxi ride, i felt like we were going too fast and that we would end up in the sea! i had never had such a view of the ocean. (sophie roch) it was so close. we went to the top of signal hill and i could see how far the ocean went out; it really amazed me. it was overwhelming,

i felt so tiny compared to it, i really got why they call it the "great big sea". people here say that if you aren't happy with the weather, just wait 5 minutes, because it may very well change, it changes really quickly. (gordon murphy) life can be pretty challenging in newfoundland. the weather's harsh and so is life. finding work is tough; everything is a challenge here. but we're okay with that; we're a resilient nation. when we take a hit, we put our chins up and say: "it ain't so bad." we keep moving forward, that's life. - we're determined. (renald belley) yes. (sophie roch) baymen are really proud of being baymen. (gordon murphy) yes, of course.

- they aren't townies. the distinction's important. (sophie roch) yes, of course. (gordon murphy) first of all, baymen don't live in st. john's. or if they do live in st. john's, they didn't grow up there. baymen are from remote areas in newfoundland. - some are from bays, yes. (gordon murphy) accents are very revealing in newfoundland, there are so many. each region has its accent, so it's easy to say you're a towny, or you're from bonavista bay, or from the south coast, like port-au-port. (gordon murphy) the differences are mainly cultural. (sophie roch) yeah, that's pretty much it. (gordon murphy) yes, that's it. (sophie roch) we are cfas: "come from away". people used to tell me that a lot when we first got here... but it wasn't negative, people wanted to know where we were from.

but we've been here for 14 years now and i feel like the locals have adopted us. we're one of them now, and people are happy to know that we like it here. (sophie roch) yes. i've always told rénald that i'm a quebecer and a newfoundlander in my heart. my friends who are native newfoundlanders are so happy to hear me say that. i really feel i'm as much a quebecer as a newfoundlander. (gordon murphy) whale! whale! (sophie fouron) oh my god! (gordon murphy) look right there. watch your back. those are dolphins. (sophie roch) there are three dolphins. four! there are four dolphins! one, two, three, four!

(lisa moore) a lot of the food and goods here in newfoundland are imported straight through the harbour in st. john's, but also in port aux basques, we're seeing stuff coming from north sydney in nova scotia and coming on ships. if you go on vacation to florida, as so many newfoundlanders do, there can be the moment when you go into a grocery store and see a ripe tomato and it breaks your heart. "what is this?" you're saying: "what is this, why isn't it green, and why doesn't it taste like styrofoam?" so it is difficult to get fresh produce sometimes. (danny mccarthy) there's no bridge here coming to the island and we literally rely on boats. when the boats come in, 80% of it, the freight that comes here on the island, comes through on water street down on the ocean exit, here. a lot of people need it right away, so you

have to get it there as fast as you can. one of the major challenges driving here in newfoundland is the weather. the weather definitely, especially in the winter time. rough roads. you get your moose on the highway. moose hazards. you get your moose rack on the front of the truck. it works. i mean, it's probably about 4000$. it'll take away some of the impact if you have a truck slow down enough, but if you're still moving along at a fairly high speed, you hit a moose broadside, like this, that moose rack is only going to take so much impact. then the moose will come in and do a lot more damage to the front of the truck, to the point that it has to be tolled back to be repaired. i started doing all kinds of different towns everywhere, and delivering all kinds of different things everywhere. just like anything from groceries, people's clothes, hardware, medical supplies. everything you order gets delivered by a truck. nobody's patient waiting

for the goods. they want it now. a store with an empty shelf is not going to last very long. (lisa moore) my sister-in-law owns a corner store and it is the hub of the community and people go there, and you hear about what's going on in the community. for sure, in a convenience store in outport newfoundland, you'd definitely find knitted mitts. and often, you can find homemade jams and baked goods quite often. it means that you don't have to drive two or three hours to the huge mega supermarket. (sophie fouron) where are you taking me, lori? (lori mccarthy) so we're going to head into henderson's market here. it's definitely been a staple here for some time. (sophie fouron) so this would be your typical corner store? (lori mccarthy) yeah, absolutely, yeah. you'll see many corner stores throughout the small towns. there are many of them along the bays, right?

(sophie fouron) the wonderful thing is that you can get fresh fish. (lori mccarthy) absolutely. fish delivery, it's always been that way. they've always brought fish to the really local places. at one time, you'd go right down to the harbour where you're able to get it. but now, they keep the fresh fish coming in. people still live on fresh fish out around here. (sophie fouron) o.k. cod tongues that are on the list here, on the menu. - yeah. - they're a delicacy here. i've had some. (lori mccarthy) for people in newfouland, cod tongues were what you had no market for. so we lived on them. you know, they were common for breakfast and lunch, and supper sometimes. but cod tongues were usually cut out by the young fellas on the wharf. so once the cod came in, the head was taken off. the head went to the side and then the young fellas, 14 or 15 years old would come and cut tongues and they'd take their bag and they'd go sell them door to door. (sophie fouron) the leftovers. (lori mccarthy) yeah, well, that's why i say it fed newfoundlanders, right? we ate the heads, the tongues, the cheeks. in my opinion, that's the delicacies, right? we sold the rest of it.

these are gorgeous filets. look at this. that's beautiful. we should grab just a few mussels too... (sophie fouron) o.k. (lori mccarthy) ...because we farm mussels here, and there are some of the only organic mussels in canada. we're going to need some savory, for sure. savory. (sophie fouron) savory. (lori mccarthy) standard. i got it home grown in the garden, but this is a staple in every pantry in newfoundland. you can't make or sell fish cakes without savory. (sophie fouron) right. nice. what are you getting here? (lori mccarthy) there are about six or seven things that i pick on this beach. (sophie fouron) o.k. (lori mccarthy) and for me, it's about: "i can't buy this stuff anywhere". so if i can come here and get it and have new flavours, and have new ingredients to work with, to me, that's super exciting. we can start with picking this one here actually. (sophie fouron) o.k. (lori mccarthy) so this one is called "goose tongue". and all of these are the common names. it's getting

a little bit out of season now, but you hold this one. - can i just taste it? - you can. i'll get you some of the younger ones. - mmm. - and it's gorgeous, like sautéed, just nice olive oil and shallots and a little bit of garlic. it makes a perfect green side. - nice! - yeah, yeah. - how did you know that you could eat that? - the stuff that we pick in newfoundland traditionally is not this stuff. it's mostly just the berries. so this stuff was stuff i kind of learned on my own. i was off with a couple of babies and i started researching to see what kind of stuff would be eaten here, knowing that this wild foraging thing, internationally, is a big movement. so i just thought to myself: "i bet we have stuff here." and yeah, so i started getting books and cross-referencing, and went on saying to myself: "yeah, we have that here. i have that here. we have that." so that was fun. (sophie fouron) wow! so you're like a pioneer, a trailblazer. (lori mccarthy) i don't know about that! but for me, i want to see this stuff celebrated as part of a new

newfoundland food. it grows here and it's fully sustainable. (sophie fouron) do you also forage seaweed? (lori mccarthy) i do. (sophie fouron) you do. - it makes the perfect accompaniment to fish. like this one here, this one is a bladderwrack. i'm going to show you. you hold this one. - yes. - and actually, that should be enough. - that should be enough? - just take what you need, that's my, you know... - yeah. - yeah, so that will be lots for the mussels that we have. - nice. - yeah. - so now we're off to your cabin, lori. - off to the cabin. a place where you go to hide away. i'll spend more time out here than i do in town, especially this time of year. even people who live right out around the bays, they want to have a cabin across the harbour. they would get in the boat and go over to the cabin. it's just a lifestyle, usually on the weekends. the highways are blocked with campers and everyone going out. if you're not in a cabin, you got a camper and you're going gravel pit camping, which is like any empty pit, you just stop,

and that's what you do for the weekend. (sophie fouron) so your parents are at the cabin right now. - yeah. - oh, lovely. hello! hi, i'm sophie! (shirley mccarthy) i'm shirley. (lori mccarthy) this is my mom. - hi, shirley! - nice to meet you. - very nice to meet you. (lori mccarthy) yeah, so it's also the element of "roughing it". we don't take our shoes off. - this is going to be a lovely lunch. - hey! this is eoin. eoin, this is sophie. - hi, eoin! (eoin seviour) how are you doing, sophie? yes, i speak french. (eoin seviour) that sounds great to me. (eoin seviour) yes. the truth is we fed the world with our cod. we certainly hold cod in high esteem here. we're allowed to fish it again, every weekend. that's new. (eoin seviour) cod, and fish in general, is

very important to our people. (sophie fouron) let me put that cod in there with the... the freshest fish! you know how lucky you are? (lori mccarthy) i do. when you have access to some of the best seafood and the best that comes from the land, how can you not eat it every day? i'll never get tired, i'll have fish every day. (sophie fouron) do sometimes, you newfoundlanders, get tired of eating cod or fish? (lori mccarthy) haven't found anyone yet. (sophie fouron) o.k. good. o.k. good. (lori mccarthy) that's the seaweed that we picked. (sophie fouron) the smell is unbelievable. from mussels to bottled moose. i didn't think moose could be bottled. (shirley mccarthy) anything can be bottled. (sophie fouron) the idea is to have some for the whole winter, right? - exactly, yes. a piece of salt pork will go in on top, and a bit of salt and pepper. and you put the lid on and the cover on and boil it for four hours. - and then it looks like this.

- ah ha! you have a... oh, i can taste it! o.k. - yeah. that's the last one. - and that's the final product. - that's the final product. - you can keep them for a couple of years you said. - oh, yes. - yes, indeed you can. (sophie fouron) relish, beets. so you do everything pickled too. (shirley mccarthy) i try to. (sophie fouron) yes. o.k. what a feast! thank you so, so much. (lori mccarthy) you're welcome. it's a pleasure to have you. (sophie fouron) it's absolutely delicious, shirley. i just love the fact that everything on this table comes from here, right? (lori mccarthy) it is, yeah. the greens are from the garden. the fish is from fortune bay, the salt fish. yeah. nothing grows here for nine months of the year. so whatever vegetables survived that, that's what you ate. (sophie fouron) you're known for your root cellars. - yeah. - speaking of ways

of preserving food. - yeah. - there's bottled, preserves and salt. well, tell me about the root cellars. - they were built into a side of a cliff, like a mound of dirt, so that you could go in. they were anywhere from half the size of this house to a quarter. and then, that was left there and you could go out then all winter and get your vegetables. what was cellared for us was cabbage, carrot, parsnip, turnip... (shirley mccarthy) potatoes. (sophie fouron) it's the vegetables that could handle it, right? (eoin seviour) without storing our food or making preserves, we couldn't have survived here. a lot of people weren't able to handle life here. (eoin seviour) yes. - yes, that's true, newfoundlanders are extremely resistant. (sophie fouron) who would live here all year long? (lori mccarthy) yeah, i know. it takes a certain breed. (shirley mccarthy) yeah. we're a tough crowd. (sophie fouron) more than newfoundland, a cheer to newfoundlanders. (lori mccarthy) cheers!

(sophie fouron) so, to you guys. thank you so much. (lori mccarthy) thank you. (lisa moore) there are a lot of islands around newfoundland that you can only get to by helicopter or maybe by boat. often, if you're living on these islands, these very remote places that are off a remote place, those islands are very dependant on the ferry system. and that is how food and things like fresh milk and all kinds of merchandise arrive at the island. (sophie fouron) this morning, i'm off to change islands on the north coast of newfoundland. good morning! hi, mike! we don't want to interrupt. - oh, i don't mind. (sophie fouron) how long have you been doing this, mike? (mike philpott) 20 years. - you've always wanted to be a captain? - yes.

- yes. - it's in my family. my father was a captain. my brother's a captain. i'm the youngest, so. - it's in your dna. - yes. - it's like that with a lot of families here. - it is. a lot of captains come from newfoundland and labrador a lot of seafarers. it's good. my job is good. i'm on the water. i love the water. who wouldn't like this kind of job at this time of year? (sophie fouron) but when the sea is rough? (mike philpott) when the sea's rough, nobody likes it, but someone has to do it. we're chasing ice breakers, and this is how we run in the winter time. it's a pain, really. we do it. there are times when we can't do it. there's too much ice. you can't move. (sophie fouron) so there are actually days when you can't cross. (mike philpott) oh, god, yes. populations are dwindling on these islands. as long as there are people there, there is demand. we are their blood. we bring everything that they eat, and sleep, and... it's all brought by ferry. they depend on us solely for everything. at night time, we're here on standby for emergency. if anything

goes wrong, they call us. (sophie fouron) you're their lifeline. (mike philpott) yes. we bring everything. they depend on us, 100%. (elizabeth chaffey) that's where i had my nurse's clinic until 1965 when they built the one out the road. - because you're a nurse. - because i'm a nurse. - elizabeth, you've been the nurse on the island for... - i was for 30 years. - now, you're both retired, but what did you do? - i was a master mariner. boat. - boat. - yes. i had a ferry, we called it. but it was not a ferry like here, now. it was a boat that carried passengers and freight. i was two and a half, i think, when i came here. my dad was born here. - and his dad before too? - yeah. - so it goes back. - yeah. - it goes back a long way. - how has the island

changed over the years? (fred chaffey) you have to say it now. (elizabeth chaffey) it changed when the power came, and it changed when televisions came. then we got our roads that would go across the tickle. we didn't have to wait for a boat to get on the other side. (sophie fouron) but some things probably stayed the same. (elizabeth chaffey) i guess. it's small enough that if you go back to family trees, they're all related. so there's a funeral and everybody's there. there's a wedding and everybody's there. - still. - still. (sophie fouron) you probably like the idea that you're remote and that you're not... (elizabeth chaffey) oh, i love it here. - right. - we've been here long enough that we have enough friends if, you know, you want to go out and visit anybody, you want that. you still do that here. you still go and call on people that are a little bit older than us, some that are a little bit younger.

(sophie fouron) hello! (courtney snow) hello! - so you work here. it's your summer job. - yeah. i do the cash register, open up, close, tour around. it gets boring sometimes, because there aren't many people here. (sophie fouron) are there any other teenagers? (courtney snow) well, i'm the only one in grade 11. - o.k. (courtney snow) and then there's one more in grade 12 and two in grade 10. (sophie fouron) so you can actually count them on one hand. (courtney snow) yeah. i hang out with one girl that's a year younger than me. she's the youngest. and then it goes up to like... they could be 40. (sophie fouron) whoever's there. (courtney snow) yeah. (sophie fouron) so what do you guys do, apart from knitting? (courtney snow)

yeah, well. we pretty much find something to do. like me and my friend charlie, we go quadding a lot. and boat cod jigging. and a few weeks ago, we went frog hunting. a lot of my cousins used to live here, but they all moved away. like some moved to st. john's. some moved to summerford, and stoneville and gander bay. there used to be a lot of people my age. and now, there's next to nothing. (sophie fouron) why did they all move? (courtney snow) well, their parents for job opportunities, and then for different schools. (sophie fouron) you don't have a school? (courtney snow) well, we got a school, but from k to 4, there's one teacher. and then from 5 to 9, they have another teacher. and then from 10 to 12, we're doing online courses. i finished my grade 11 here, and i'll be moving to st. john's to do my grade 12. (sophie fouron) are you thinking of working here later on? (courtney snow) no. - no? you wouldn't work herer live here, have a family here? - no, because there are not enough job opportunities

and the school, i'm guessing, will soon be shut down because there's not enough people to really run it. it will always be home. i will always miss it. (lisa moore) settlers came from france, and england and ireland because there was a tremendous amount of cod in the ocean. you know, there's a story about john cabot arriving and the boat having to plow through the cod. you could almost imagine people having to walk on the backs of the cod which, of course, is not true, but there was a really rich fishery here. (stephen brinson) basically what you're going to see here is a collection of fishing gear. this is nets that i used to get bait for lobster fishing. and then up top here is a top lot. this is turbot nets. i have lotte nets, cod nets. (sophie fouron) everything you need to go fishing is here. - everything you need. (sophie fouron) so, let's go fishing! - let's try to go fishing, yeah. - let's try to go fishing.

- yeah. lifejackets. - oh, yes. - o.k. i have one here and you see, i've worn this many times. - many, many, many times. - and that's about it. - o.k. - o.k. so... (sophie fouron) - let's go. voilà! o.k. (stephen brinson) good luck with the fishing. i hope you catch one. there's a fish plant here. (sophie fouron) hi guys! fish is everything here. (stephen brinson) it is, here. it's a way of life, and we love and enjoy what we're doing. i would never be a fisherman if i didn't love being a fisherman. never. (sophie fouron) it's been in your family? (stephen brinson) yeah, forever. well, this community was settled by fishermen. as a matter of fact, there was a time when the population here on change islands

was 1,500 people. one time, it was close to 2000. now, it's 200. so everyone came here, because it was the main industry in newfoundland, right? where the wind is up today, we'd like to get out there. but out there is really rough. but we can try here. - o.k. - o.k. so you need a hook. - o.k. - right? so i'll try first and then you try later? - oh, yeah. o.k. this is how it works. - this is how it works. - you started fishing... - when i was 13. - 13? - 13, and when i was 15, i took a quarter of a share. the men would get a full share. i don't think there's any fish here. - you can tell already? - oh, yes. they would be tucking. - i want to try this. - you try it. - if there's a bite... - you will know. - i'll know. oh! no, no. i'm kidding. - o.k. (lisa moore) the moratorium happened in 1992.

there was a lot of signs that the cod fishery was failing. it certainly had to do with the overfishing of foreign trawlers. people were not allowed to fish cod anymore. and cod had been the primary resource for 400 years, so it was just the end of... well, 30,000 people were put out of work. it was the end of a way of life. it was the end of, you know, economic stability in these small rural communities. and it was a deep tragedy. (stephen brinson) change islands, when the moratorium was here, there must have been probably 100 to 125 full-time fishermen. right now, i'm seeing... probably there's only around 25. (sophie fouron) after the moratorium, you switched from cod to crab and shrimp to survive? - yeah. most fishermen were sort

of getting involved. but that is the main fisheries now. it's shrimp and crab, snow crab. even when the moratorium was on, anyone who didn't really love shing turned to something else. that was the worst thing to do. - that was the worst thing. - that was the worst, and it was worst in a sense because the future was uncertain in fishery. for me, now at 58, i've survived good years, bad years. it's pretty good now. i get some crab and i get some lobster. i'd love to catch more cod because the fish is more plentiful now than it's been since i can remember. if there was a good market, you would make a good dollar. (sophie fouron) do we have one? - i'm not sure. we're not where we'd like to be. that's the terrible thing about it. i don't think there's a fish out there. if there is, it's very small.

a sculpin. - it's not a cod. - not a cod. who's the jigger here today? - catch and release, right? - you say: "fish, this is your lucky day. we don't need you." - you don't eat those. - no. - no. (stephen brinson) we're drifting away, so what's happening now, your hook is up, off the bottom, that way. so you just let some more line, just let it go down. don't you worry there. just let the line go. i'll show you how to let the line go. you just let the line go. (sophie fouron) o.k. that's a hard technique. - yeah. we have a lot against us today. and i wish i could have you when it was a good day. should we try again, or should we say the wind is going to stop us from catching fish today?