A farm in Little Harbour has given rise to eight generations of Matt Brown’s family. This legacy has kept the Pictou County man close to his history while looking to his future.
Fishing is significant to this community. “The census listed my great grandfather as a farmer. His brother -who built my house- is listed as a fisherman of lobster and salmon.” Farms have mostly disappeared from Little Harbour, yet fishing remains. Matt’s mother and two of his brothers lead enterprises as well.
Matt spent his childhood fishing with his father and grandfather. “Dad’s family is from PEI, but my parent’s wanted to live in Little Harbour. They bought the farmhouse and started a business while dad also fished with my grandfather.” Matt’s grandfather passed in 2001. “He ran a lobster pound, fished lobsters, tuna, and herring. He was one of the last commercial Atlantic salmon fishermen.”
After fishing with his father through post-secondary education, Matt started a career in telecommunications. The opportunity to return knocked in the spring of 2019. Matt explains that his “Dad had been speaking with a friend who fished and was considering retirement. I’d been working in telecom for a few years and enjoyed my work, but it was an exciting opportunity. Going from a 40-hour week with benefits, a pension and a stock plan to fishing and self-employment was quite a shift.”
Matt would need help with financing this opportunity. “The loan officers were fantastic.” He says that “The application was tailored to help someone build a fishing plan and understand what success looks like. Our friend was able to retire well, and I was well positioned to begin.”
A pandemic would challenge Matt’s confidence. In January 2020 shore prices were high and markets were busy, but by April some were seriously calling to cancel the season outright. It would be delayed by two weeks. “Fishing was great – there were so many lobsters,” Matt adds. “But the market was soft, shipping was a nightmare, and the price was low. The Loan Board deferred my payment that first year, and there were some other supports for industry. I was able to work through it, and things have gone well since.”
Matt captains Iron Ring from the Sinclair’s Island wharf, fishing lobster and operating as The Hart & Boar Fishing Company Ltd. “My grandfather’s family name was Colquhoun. They have a crest showing a hart, or male deer. My wife is a Campbell, and their crest shows a gold boar. The name seemed like a way to show the importance of our family in our business.”
Each season Matt prepares alongside family and neighbors, piling traps on the wharf and rigging lines. “We’re doing what people have done here for a very long time,” he says. “I’m proud to do what my grandfather did, and to raise my children in the place I was raised. I appreciate the connection I have to the history of this place, and I feel some responsibility to continue the story of this community.”
Matt is also proud of how his business contributes to the economy. “The nine boats at this wharf bring a lot of lobsters to shore, and those are jobs and dollars. Jobs on the boats, jobs building traps, jobs building boats, jobs at the fish plant. There’s a definite economic impact to this.”
Matt was able to work with the Fisheries and Aquaculture Loan Board to perform a $200,000 refit to his vessel last year. “That refit made work for people both in this community and at the shop in Port Hood. The Loan Board plainly understands the needs of the fishing community and was incredibly supportive in getting the work done.”