In the small community of Tangier, N.S., Abriel Fisheries is more than a place to work, or at least, it used to be.
On the seafood distributor’s unofficial Facebook page, photos of children can be seen jumping off the edge of the wharf during summer. The plant has been in the Abriel family for generations, and with more than 70 employees during lobster season, it’s part of Tangier’s identity.
Nothing can erase that legacy, but after a fire burned the fishery down on Wednesday, its future — and that of its staff — is up in the air.
Rubble is all that’s left of Abriel Fisheries in Tangier, N.S. after a devastating fire on Dec. 18, 2019. It’s seen here the following afternoon, as investigators search for clues as to the cause of the blaze.
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“The owner, John Abriel, I play darts with him on Thursday nights,” said Duncan Hutt, whose father, mother and brother all worked at Abriel’s while he was growing up.
“He’s put in a lot of years there and his father before him. It will be well-missed in this community.”
Investigators from both the fire department and the plant’s insurance company picked through the rubble on Thursday afternoon. Fire officials say their crews battled the blaze from around noon into the evening on Wednesday, and were still extinguishing hot spots the following morning.
No one was injured in the fire, but its cause remains unknown.
Community members dropped by the site to see the damage for themselves.
Myrna Fahie said she was “devastated” to hear about the disaster on the news Wednesday evening, as Abriel’s is “pertinent to the community.”
“I went down to the shore here on my property to take some pictures and the smoke was just — you know, it was very sad. Very sad.”
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Dana Dorey stopped by the plant on Thursday to take his own pictures and send them to his brother, who worked there years ago. As a lifelong resident of Tangier, he said he has fond memories of Abriel’s, which has always been part of the vista.
“It’s been an iconic business for many years, as long as I can remember,” said Dorey. “There’s a lot of fishermen who fish from this particular location, and I think most, if not all of them, sell to the plant, and they may have trouble offloading their catch this spring. They may have to transport them.
“It’s a shame, hopefully they can rebuild.”
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Tangier is a small community on Nova Scotia’s Eastern Shore, about an hour-and-a-half from Halifax. The region was once home to four fisheries, according to Scott Cunningham, co-owner of a local sea kayaking company called Coastal Adventures.
But with Abriel’s gone, only two remain, he told Global News, joining Dorey in his deep concern for the local fishers.
“I can get fish elsewhere if I need it … But the lobster fishermen, they would get other markets for the lobster, but that would cost them more for shipping and things like that. That’s not good news for a place that doesn’t have a lot of business to begin with.”
As of Thursday evening, the plant’s owners had not revealed to the community whether they would rebuild the fishery or close it for good.