GREAT BREHAT, N.L. — It’s proving easier said than done for a small Great Northern Peninsula trying to restore an historic community wharf.
Joanna Pohl, a member of the town’s newly established Community Wharf Restoration Committee, says Great Brehat is one of the only communities in the region that has an active commercial and recreational fishing community with its wharves left in shambles.
They are currently trying to procure funding to upgrade the wharves for future usage.
However, it is unclear who, in fact, owns the town’s “community wharf”.
Pohl says she has spoken to MHA Christopher Mitchelmore’s office, the Department of Municipal Affairs office, Crown Lands and the RCMP all at length.
While everyone has been cooperative, she says no one seems to be able to find the paperwork to get some answers.
DFO records show the wharf was constructed in 1975 and the slipway in 1983, although the committee believes it was in fact built in 1972.
The wharf and stage were part of a make-work project so residents in Great Brehat could receive their stamps.
It became the “community wharf”.
Through the 1970s and 1980s, numerous families used the wharf but over the past few years, only a few families use it to tie up their boats and process fish.
After suffering damage in a 2010 storm, the wharf has been increasingly deteriorating.
However, Pohl says new interest in boating and recreational fishing has brought the “community wharf” into focus once again.
Pohl is also a member of the 2021 Great Brehat Come Home Year committee.
While there had already been conversations about the wharf, she says the committee wants it repaired by the Come Home Year in July 2021.
She says it will help with events.
“We want the wharf to be safe, so we can take people to Little Brehat and out fishing during the Come Home Year as well,” she told The Northern Pen. “We won't be putting nearly as big a stage on the wharf this time — just enough for families to be able to get in, get their fish done, maybe have a few tables, tools, water pump, et cetera — make it a working wharf where people can once again convene and socialize over our traditional pastime.”
Since these initial conversations, the town held a public meeting and established the Community Wharf Restoration Committee.
