Three senior members of the PEI shellfish industry were honoured Friday for their long-standing contributions to the development of the industry.
Eugene McKenna of Orwell, George Carr of Stanley Bridge, and Rogers Burleigh of East Bideford are this year's recipients of the Provincial Minister's Shellfish Recognition Awards.
Minister of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Environment Chester Gillan presented the awards during the opening of the PEI International Shellfish Festival.
"The shellfish industry contributes a great deal to our economy in Prince Edward Island. Last year, the landed valued of PEI oysters, mussels, quahaugs and clams was over $32 million and more than 2,000 Islanders worked in the industry," said Minister Gillan.
"We would simply never have achieved that success without the hard work, dedication and determination of people like Mr. McKenna, Mr. Carr and Mr. Burleigh. I am delighted to have this opportunity to recognize the contributions they have made to the shellfish industry."
All three recipients of this year's Shellfish Recognition Awards have been fishing oysters since their youth. Together, they have more than 150 years experience in the industry and they are all looking forward to the opening of the fall oyster season Saturday.
Eugene McKenna worked with his late brother Arthur to ship oysters to Montreal in the 1950s and 1960s and received his first leases in the 1960s, taking special care to build his leased grounds and the quality of his oysters. In the 1970s, Mr. McKenna established a small processing plant in Orwell. Over the years, he nurtured a market for his oysters with Rodney's Oyster House in Toronto, a market he shares to this day.
Mr. McKenna has been active in the Queens County Shellfish Association and the Orwell Vernon Watershed Management Association and has worked closely with staff from the Department of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Environment to develop and test quahaug aquaculture techniques on his leased areas. He has also been generous over the years in passing along his experiences to many younger leaseholders in the Vernon-Orwell area.
This year's second deserving award recipient, George Carr has been fishing since the 1940s. He took over leases granted to his father. In 1975, Mr. Carr built a processing plant in Stanley Bridge and began to buy oysters, quahaugs, clams and lobster from numerous fishers. He acquired additional leases in the mid 1970s to relay oysters prior to sale, and developed markets in Montreal, Toronto and the United States.
Mr. Carr passed the business along to other family members in the 1990s but remains very active at the age of 70 to ensure that the shellfish business that he worked so hard to build continues to prosper. He will often be found in his dory, fishing shellfish on New London Bay, or behind the scenes at the processing plant, grading and packing oysters.
The Burleigh name has been synonymous with the oyster industry for more than 100 years. Rogers Burleigh took over the oyster operation of his family's seafood enterprise in the 1950s, establishing his first processing plant at Bideford Wharf. He moved the operation to its present location in East Bideford in the 1970s. Today, Mr. Burleigh purchases shellfish from more than 300 fishers and as such is the largest oyster dealer in Prince Edward Island and a tremendous contributor to economic development in the western part of the province.
Mr. Burleigh was the first oyster dealer in PEI to ship to markets in the United States and continues to ship more than 70 per cent of his production there today. He is a long-time supporter of programs to enhance the public oyster fishery and a driving force to establish a program with government to market oysters from dealers' leases in the summer months.
The Provincial Minister's Shellfish Recognition Awards are presented each year in conjunction with the PEI International Shellfish Festival.
This year's festival continues at Peake's Wharf in Charlottetown throughout the weekend, with cooking demonstrations, oyster shucking competitions, top Island entertainment and plenty of quality PEI shellfish to enjoy.
Revenues from sales of Island shellfish at the festival assist the festival hosts, the PEI Shellfish Association and the PEI Aquaculture Alliance, in the work they carry out on behalf of the industry.