Though
several sources confirm the existence of a fish market in York, they do
not all agree on its location. Generally it seems that the market was
near the foot of Church Street, on the beach, with wharfs nearby where
ships could dock. The harbour reports of the day focussed on the need
for sanitary standards in the bay(1), and the lack of proper facilities such as a system of warning buoys(2).
Exactly
when commercial fishing became important to York’s economy is
also not known. Some information has been provided by Henry Evans, and
early fisherman, who wrote in 1833 that there were already designated
fishing grounds by the peninsula(3).
Fishermen also learned a great deal from native practices. For example,
the tradition of night fishing with torches to lure the salmon was an
old native spearfishing technique(4).
Anna Jameson, describing a York evening by the bay, saw “rows of
red lights from the fishing boats gleaming along the surface of the
water”(5).
Fishermen brought in a varied catch including salmon, white fish and bluebacked herring(6). In the winter cod and oysters were imported into the region(7).
As the market was on the mainland and the fishing grounds were by the
peninsula, fishermen went back and forth frequently. The lake, however,
had a changing nature and often men were caught in storms far from
shore. Even on a calm day valuable time could be lost in returning to
shore to dry fishing nets.
As a result, in the late 1830s fishermen began establishing cabins on the Island(8). They built small temporary driftwood shanties on the poorer land(9).
Between temporary homes on the island and open boats, the fishermen
were often victims of the very elements which defined their livelihood. |
Notes
- Firth, p.236.
- Armstrong, A City in the Making, p.23
- Firth, p.79.
- Sally Gibson, More Than an Island; A History of Toronto Island, (Toronto: Irwin Publishing, 1984), p.6.
- Ibid., p.44.
- Firth, pp.327-27.
- Ibid.
- Gibson, p.52.
- Ibid.
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