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Conversation with Bill Dunn
Bill Dunn came to Port Dover from Scotland in 1923. He had been associated with the fishing industry in his native country, serving as a cook on a fishing vessel from the age of twelve, and becoming a fisherman himself at age seventeen. Fishing on Lake Erie seemed "child’s play" after the hardships he endured on the North Sea.
At Port Dover he began work on the Robert K a steam tug owned by Albert Anderson, Mid Thompson and Alfred Shubert. The tugs at this time were considerably smaller than the present ones and capable of hauling about one third of the present tonnage. There was no smelt fishing in those days as whitefish, bluefish, yellows and herring could be had in plentiful quantities.
A government quota which had been enforced until the 20s began to be ignored more and more by the fishermen. Finally the government lost control completely and the fishermen did as they pleased, ignoring regulations governing the size of their catches which grew larger and larger, as did the boats, and the prices dropped. It was common to see boats entering the harbour loaded to the gunwales with hundreds of tons of fish worth about half a cent a pound. The supply of fish at that time seemed inexhaustible, but by 1940 the fish were nearly gone.
Bill Dunn seems to subscribe to no one theory regarding the disappearance of the fish, but the opinion that ranks foremost in his mind, besides simply over fishing, concerns the transition from steam power to gas and diesel fuel. When steam power was in vogue, the boats dumped the accumulated ashes in the shallow waters as they approached home. These ash beds provided ideal spawning grounds for the fish, which gradually disappeared as the boats changed to other fuels, shrinking the spawning area. The newer fuels also added pollution to the waters.
In 1960 the government hired him and for the next seven years he was their representative, dividing his time between the east coast and Lake Erie. He taught gill netting in the East and trawling in Lake Erie.
From - Lakelore
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Rainham Builders
Abt 1898 - 