Cod Co-op

To the salty tang and fishy smell of tiny Grande Riviere (pop. 992) on Quebec's rugged Gaspe coast, something new had been added: an air of progress and prosperity. It showed in little things: new rubber boots on the fishermen; gay colored raincoats on their wives & children. Fat bank accounts told more.

Eight years ago Grande Riviere's fishermen were deep in debt. Their cod brought only $1.80 a draft (238 lbs.). Just to pay for nets, lines, hooks and other gear, a skipper and crew (three men) had to catch 400 drafts a season. The average catch was 500, which meant about $180 profit a year to be split among the four men.

In 1939, 30 debt-ridden fishermen, fed up to their sou'westers, started a cooperative: Syndicat des Pecheurs de Grande Riviere. They bought their gear wholesale, sold their fish cooperatively, ended the year with $3,276 surplus or $109 apiece. By last year the co-op had 90 members and earned $39,984 surplus, better than $400 a man. A draft, now figured at 224 lbs., fetched $12. Wartime prices for cod had helped, but the big saving had been in fishing costs. In World War I, when prices generally were even higher, a draft fetched only $8.

Last week, well into the June-October fishing season, Grande Riviere's co-op fishermen were getting a cash advance of $6.72 a draft, with a co-op dividend to be added later. It looked like the best year yet.

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