The impact of modernization on a traditional regional system : the case of inner Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, 1911-1966

Brown, Howard Cecil (1985) The impact of modernization on a traditional regional system : the case of inner Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, 1911-1966. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

[English] PDF (Migrated (PDF/A Conversion) from original format: (application/pdf)) - Accepted Version Available under License - The author retains copyright ownership and moral rights in this thesis. Neither the thesis nor substantial extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author's permission. Download (63MB) [English] PDF - Accepted Version Available under License - The author retains copyright ownership and moral rights in this thesis. Neither the thesis nor substantial extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author's permission. (Original Version)

Abstract

Since the early twentieth century and particularly during World War II and in the post Confederation era Newfoundland has experienced the impact of the modernization process. Increased urbanization, a more diversified economy, and a vast improvement in transportation and communication are among some of the major developments arising out of this process. However its impact has not affected all regions of the province in the same way. Growth has tended to occur primarily in traditional urban areas, in new towns created to exploit mineral and forest resources land/or in centers where changes in the transportation and communication network have presented additional employment opportunities. -- Some rural areas of Newfoundland have also benefitted by the modernization of the fishery. Communities which have been able to attract modern year round fresh fish filleting and freezing facilities and the large modern trawlers and draggers to supply the facility have grown. So too have some communities with a seasonally operated facility supplied by the inshore fishery. However for the majority of the fishing settlements, which were established during the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century, when dried salted codfish was the main product, modernization in the fishing industry has had a negative impact. Larger boats, equipped with marine engines and catching a variety of species have meant that it is no longer necessary for fishermen to reside in small isolated communities. Moreover as the traditional dried salted cod industry declined, and emphasis was focused on the fresh frozen fish industry, access to the modern plant capable of processing many species became more crucial, and both the transportation and communication linkages took on an increased importance. Just as the modern fish processing facilities had evolved in communities with a locational advantage, so too have health care, educational and social facilities. As a result many small traditional marine resource based communities increasingly found themselves at both an economic and social disadvantage. -- This thesis is an attempt to look at the impact of the modernization process on a traditional fishing region, Inner Placentia Bay on Newfoundland's south coast, during the period 1911 - 1966. The method chosen was the historic - geographic technique of examining an area through successive cross sectional analysis in time. By using census and related material it is possible to explain and show how the region's marine and other resources were originally utilized and how these traditional patterns were affected by changing economic and marketing conditions and by improvements in fishing technology. The thesis concludes by examining the region’s response to the broader modernization process that was occurring in Newfoundland, particularly for the period 1939 - 1966.

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