Shorefast is a Canadian social enterprise focusing on building economic and cultural resilience on Fogo Island, Newfoundland. [1] [2]
The enterprise includes a variety of charitable programs (run by Shorefast Foundation, a registered Canadian charity) and social businesses (run by Shorefast Social Enterprises Inc.), [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] which include the Fogo Island Inn [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] Following visitors' interest in the Inn's locally-made furnishings, Shorefast founded The Woodshop on Fogo Island, another social business whose surpluses are reinvested in the community. [13] [14] [15]
Shorefast was formed in 2006 by siblings Zita, Alan, and Anthony Cobb to help the Island’s economy following the collapse of the Atlantic northwest cod fishery. [16] [17] [18] Zita, who grew up on Fogo Island, left the island in 1975 to study business at Carleton University, and went on to become CFO of JDS Fitel, and then senior vice-president of strategy for fiber optics manufacturer JDS Uniphase. Following her career, she returned home to Fogo Island to start working with her brothers. [19] [20] Cobb says that, “The revitalization of Fogo Island over the past decade builds on the work of people decades before, who gathered to form the Fogo Island Co-operative to rebuild the economy when cod stocks drastically declined.” [21] [22]
Shorefast is recognized as a social enterprise, on the basis that it uses business-minded means to achieve social ends. In 2016, Zita received the Order of Canada, Canada's highest honour, for the charity's efforts. [23] [24] [25]
Fogo Island Arts is a founding initiative of Shorefast built upon the legacy of the National Film Board of Canada's Fogo Process. [26] The residency-based contemporary art venue hosts artists, designers, writers, filmmakers, musicians, curators, and thinkers from around the world. While on the Island, artists work in one of four artist studios designed by Newfoundland-born, Norway-based architect Todd Saunders. [27] [28] Artists-in-residence regularly participate in community engagements, often in the form of public talks, and selected artists also present solo exhibitions at the Fogo Island Gallery, located in the Fogo Island Inn. [29]
New Ocean Ethic is a series of initiatives organized to support the oceans. The program is led by Gordon Slade, CM , and works with researchers, academics, practitioners, universities, organizations, communities and other stakeholders to build ocean health. [30] [31] [32] [33]
Geology at the Edge is Canada's first community-based geologist-in-residence program. [34] This program "aims to combine the understanding or geological heritage with sustainable economic development focused upon geotourism, tourism that creates conditions for the socioeconomic well-being of communities while maintaining their cultural and ecological integrity" [35]
Small wooden boats known as punts have been an essential part of the social and economic fabric of rural Newfoundland. [36] Shorefast opened the Punt Premises in June 2019 in the community of Joe Batt’s Arm, Fogo Island. The Premises was fully funded by the Government and a private donor. [37] It includes a set of restored heritage buildings that serves as an interactive cultural interpretation center that encourages interaction with the historical and cultural assets of the inshore fishery. [38] [39] The site serves as a community gathering space, boatbuilding education centre and offers punts for people to row in the harbour. [40] [41]
In partnership with Memorial University of Newfoundland, the Academics-in-Residence program was created in 2016. The program consists of a yearly group of academic fellows who visit Fogo Island to perform research, interact with the community, and share their areas of expertise. [42] [43]
Known as the Shorefast Business Assistance Fund, [44] Shorefast provides micro-loans on friendly terms to those seeking to start a business on Fogo Island. [45] The fund has granted loans to a diverse set of successful businesses on the Island and continues to accept applications [46] [47]
Many early structures built in Newfoundland were constructed of wood rather than stone, and close to the shore to allow easy access to fishing grounds. [48] This vernacular architecture still exists on Fogo Island. Shorefast invests in “restoring a number of heritage homes, churches, and public buildings in order to preserve Fogo Island’s distinct built heritage and give these structures continued relevance through continued use". [49]
Geotourism sustains or enhances the distinctive geographical character of a place including its environment, heritage, aesthetics, culture, and the well-being of its residents. [50] The Fogo Island Inn stands as Shorefast’s major geotourism project, [51] committed to the best interests of Fogo Island’s natural environment, cultural legacy, and communities.
The Economic Development Partnership is a joint partnership between Shorefast, the Town of Fogo Island and the Fogo Island Co-operative Society Limited. It unites public and private on-Island leadership to encourage and facilitate economic development on Fogo Island, [52] create jobs, encourage youth ventures, and foster a unified economic vision for Fogo Island through the start-up and expansion of small and medium-sized businesses. [53] [54]
Utilizing the principles of asset-based community development, Shorefast opened the Fogo Island Inn in 2013 as a way to express traditional knowledge and hospitality in new ways and to serve as an economic engine for Fogo Island. [55] [56] [57] Designed by Newfoundland-born, Norway-based architect Todd Saunders, the Inn features 29 one-of-a-kind rooms and draws from the vernacular architecture found on the island. [58] [59] [60] [61] The furniture and textiles that decorate the Inn are handcrafted and primarily produced on Fogo Island – a result of the unique collaboration between international designers and the skilled artisans and craftspeople of Fogo Island. [62] [63] [64]
The Inn was built with philanthropic funds, and all surplus profits are returned to Shorefast for reinvestment into the community. As such, there are no investors seeking a return, and no private gain. This model means that the community of Fogo Island is the beneficial owner of the Inn. [65] [66] [67]
By virtue of their geographic isolation, Fogo Islanders have become masters of making things by hand. Since they arrived as settlers in the late 1600s, Fogo Islanders have been building wooden boats, houses, tools and furniture and creating textiles in the form of knitting, quilting, rug hooking and more. [68] Housed in the renovated Society of United Fishermen’s Hall in the community of Barr’d Islands on Fogo Island, The Woodshop on Fogo Island is the result of an innovative collaborative process between international designers and the artisans and craftspeople of Fogo Island. [69] [70] Furniture and textile pieces were created by this partnership for the Fogo Island Inn, but due to the popularity of the pieces among guests a brick and mortar shop was opened. [71] [72] The Woodshop employs staff year round, including woodworkers who cut, nail, glue, sand, finish and paint every item by hand. [73] As a Shorefast social business, all items are priced to create a surplus, which is then reinvested back into the community. [74] [75]
Sustained on primarily cod fishing for generations, fishing is tied to family life, culture and economy in Newfoundland and Labrador. [76] During the mid-twentieth century, with the introduction of international factory-scale over-fishing, cod populations fell drastically forcing the province to announce a cod moratorium in 1992, resulting in an estimated 30,000 job losses and a way of life. [77] In recent years the inshore cod stocks have been rising, allowing people to once again begin to catch small quotas of fish. [78]
Fogo Island Fish employs Fogo Islanders to catch cod using the traditional hand-line caught method, one at a time, resulting in zero by-catch. [79] All caught within a five mile radius of the coast of Fogo Island, this close proximity allows fish to be processed within hours of being caught resulting in a superior product that has been lauded by the restaurant industry. [80] Primarily supplying high-end restaurants in Ontario, Fogo Island Fish is able to pay their fishers well above market rates and surpluses are reinvested back into the community. [81] [82]
Fogo Island Fish was the subject of the National Film Board short-documentary HAND.LINE.COD. directed by Justin Simms, that premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2016. [83] [84]
In 2017, Shorefast launched its Economic Nutrition Label. [85] [86] The labels show “where the money goes” [87] when consumers make purchases at Shorefast's social businesses. As a play on the classic nutrition fact labels legally required on food products in most countries, the Economic Nutrition Label shows how much of the purchase price of any particular item goes towards production processes including labour, materials, or operations, as well as the money’s geographical destination. [88] The labels "are intended to bring transparency to where the money from your purchase goes – how it will be invested in the local community and how it impacts the broader economy." [89]
The labels are available for most of The Woodshop on Fogo Island’s retail items, [90] [91] [92] as well as for the cost of a stay at Fogo Island Inn, [93] [94]
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of 405,212 square kilometres. In 2023, the population of Newfoundland and Labrador was estimated to be 533,710. The island of Newfoundland is home to around 94 per cent of the province's population, with more than half residing in the Avalon Peninsula. Labrador borders the province of Quebec, and the French overseas collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon lies about 20 km (12 mi) west of the Burin Peninsula.
Cod is the common name for the demersal fish genus Gadus, belonging to the family Gadidae. Cod is also used as part of the common name for a number of other fish species, and one species that belongs to genus Gadus is commonly not called cod.
Dildo is a local service district and designated place in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador on the island of Newfoundland. It is located on the southeastern Dildo Arm of Trinity Bay about 100 kilometres (62 mi) west of St. John's. South Dildo is a community located to the south, and in 2021 had 195 residents. It is known for its unusual name.
Fogo Island is the largest of the offshore islands of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The Town of Fogo Island encompasses Fogo, Joe Batt's Arm-Barr'd Islands-Shoal Bay, Seldom-Little Seldom and Tilting, with the unincorporated areas of Fogo Island. It lies off the northeast coast of Newfoundland, northwest of Musgrave Harbour across Hamilton Sound, just east of the Change Islands. The island is about 25 km (16 mi) long and 14 km (8.7 mi) wide. The total area is 237.71 km2 (91.78 sq mi).
Twillingate is a town of 2,121 people located on the Twillingate Islands ("Toulinquet") in Notre Dame Bay, off the north eastern shore of the island of Newfoundland in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The town is about 100 kilometres (62 mi) north of Lewisporte and Gander.
The Isles of Notre Dame, formerly called Twillingate and Fogo, is a defunct provincial electoral district for the House of Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. As of 2011 the district had 6,990 eligible voters. The district was abolished in 2015 and largely replaced by Lewisporte-Twillingate.
Ramea is a small village in Newfoundland and Labrador located on Northwest Island, one of a group of five major islands located off the south coast of Newfoundland, Canada. The island is approximately 3.14 km long by 0.93 km wide. The other major islands in the archipelago are Great Island, Middle Island, Harbour Island, and South West Island.
Tilting is a community on the eastern end of Fogo Island off the northeast coast of Newfoundland. It was incorporated as a town before becoming part of the Town of Fogo Island through an amalgamation in 2011. The community has been designated as a National Historic Site of Canada, and has also been designated as a Registered Heritage District by the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador.
McCallum is a local service district and designated place in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. McCallum is located on the southern coast of the island of Newfoundland. It is accessible only by boat or by air, and in appearance and way of life is thought by some to be as close to a pre-20th century community as may be found. McCallum lies in an enclosed harbour and is sheltered between two hills. The community survives primarily on the fishery. Whaling was also a major industry in the late 19th century. The provincial government runs a ferry service to McCallum from the nearby town of Hermitage, about an hour and a half away by boat, where the nearest road is located.
Burgeo is a town in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is located mainly on Grandy Island, on the south coast of the island of Newfoundland. It is an outport community.
Rencontre East is a small, outport community in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada located north east of Belleoram, and west of Terrenceville in Fortune Bay. The population was 115 in the 2021 census. This small community is not connected to any surrounding areas by road
Change Islands is an outport community in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Ladle Cove is a designated place in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is along the Straight Shore on the island of Newfoundland.
Resettlement in Newfoundland and Labrador terms refers to an organized approach to centralize the population into growth areas. It is used in the current context when referring to a voluntary relocation initiated from isolated communities themselves.
In 1992, Northern Cod populations fell to 1% of historical levels, due in large part to decades of overfishing. The Canadian Federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, John Crosbie, declared a moratorium on the Northern Cod fishery, which for the preceding 500 years had primarily shaped the lives and communities of Canada's eastern coast. A significant factor contributing to the depletion of the cod stocks off Newfoundland's shores was the introduction of equipment and technology that increased landed fish volume. From the 1950s onwards, new technology allowed fishers to trawl a larger area, fish more in-depth, and for a longer time. By the 1960s, powerful trawlers equipped with radar, electronic navigation systems, and sonar allowed crews to pursue fish with unparalleled success, and Canadian catches peaked in the late-1970s and early-1980s. Cod stocks were depleted at a faster rate than could be replenished.
Cod fisheries are fisheries for cod. Cod is the common name for fish of the genus Gadus, belonging to the family Gadidae, and this article is confined to three species that belong to this genus: the Atlantic cod, the Pacific cod and the Greenland cod. Although there is a fourth species of the cod genus Gadus, Alaska pollock, it is commonly not called cod and therefore currently not covered here.
William's Harbour is a former local service district and designated place in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The community was entirely resettled in 2017. The settlement was part of the NunatuKavut territory.
Fogo Island is a town located on Fogo Island, the largest of the offshore islands in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
Zita Cobb,, is a Canadian businesswoman and social entrepreneur. In 2006, she established Shorefast, a Canadian social enterprise, with her brothers Anthony and Alan Cobb on Fogo Island, Newfoundland.
The Fogo Island Inn is a hotel located on the northern shore of Fogo Island in Newfoundland, Canada. The inn consists of an outbuilding and main building that totals 4500m² in area. The main building includes 29 guest rooms, a restaurant, Finnish-styled roof-top saunas designed by Rintala Eggertsson Architects, a cinema run in partnership with the National Film Board of Canada, a library featuring books selected by Dr. Leslie Harris, and an art gallery curated by Fogo Island Arts. The main building has four floors, where the first and second floors house most of the public amenities, and 21 guest rooms are located on the third and fourth floors. The outbuilding includes the inn’s storage, laundry, and mechanical facilities. The Fogo Island Inn completed construction in June 2013.