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Processing Plant

Quinlan Brothers

In 1954, Maurice and Patrick Quinlan of Red Head Cove bought the business of James F. O’Neill of Bay de Verde.

In due course, they built a relatively small ‘fish plant’ on the waterfront at Foreside. Even though fish had been caught and sold in a variety of ways since early settlement, this was the first fresh codfish processing operation in Bay de Verde.

By the early 1960’s, the salt cod industry had virtually come to an end and consequently, the ‘fish plant’ became the mainstay of the fishery in Bay de Verde. In time, along with cod, many other species were processed.
After the cod moratorium of 1992 Quinlan Bros. turned their attention to the processing of snow crab and shrimp. With their base of operation in Bay de Verde, they are now one of the largest producers of these products in Newfoundland and Labrador.The late 1960's saw the emergence of another fishery in this area. This was the “snow crab” fishery which since the demise of the cod has proven to be the savior of rural communities in Newfoundland. At first crab was strictly a long-liner fishery but since the “cod moratorium” the small inshore boats have also claimed their share and today “the under 35 foot fleet” is fishing for crab near-shore in the bays.

The long-liner fishery today has also expanded to include trawling for shrimp which has also become abundant in the waters around Newfoundland. The crab and shrimp fisheries are today the major fisheries in Bay de Verde as they are in most of Newfoundland.