Our HISTORY is the history of our coastal people — namely the fishery. Many generations ago my great, great (?) grandfather left the relative security of his native England on a perilous voyage that ended in a little, sheltered cove that now bears the name Tizzard’s Hr.

I was born in that most beautiful of fishing villages more than six decades ago and as a very little boy fell in love with the sea. I fished cod traps with Father all my formative years and had my own rowboat and lobster traps when I was in grade one. I grew up in an era when our then Premier, Joseph R. Smallwood, encouraged Newfoundlanders to abdicate their ties to the sea and embark on more steady and better paying jobs in a course that he had set towards development and industrialization. This was the era of “Resettlement" — a dark page in Newfoundland history.

In addition to our government turning its back to the sea, fishermen were still kept in bondage to the relatively wealthy fish merchants; a situation existing to some degree even today. Wanting more opportunity for his only son, my father encouraged me to continue my schooling and so eventually I became a teacher. My first love, however, was never far from my heart and my soul, and at every opportunity I went fishing with Cod trap skippers. Eventually my wife, Christine, received Father`s licences and for a number of years I fished with Christine as licence holder, until the spring of 1995 when I decided to enter the fishery full time. Coincidentally, I began the creation of Prime Berth as a tribute to the memory of my fisher forefathers, and a place where visitors young and old could touch the soul of a way of life fast disappearing.

I have spent countless hours relocating the century old buildings of the fishing trade and making displays to show the workings of various types of fishing. As of now I have 7 different buildings, each with its own unique purpose in showing and interpreting the traditional Newfoundland Inshore fishery.

As Jim Wellman, editor of the Navigator Magazine wrote in an article, "Prime Berth is probably the best place in Newfoundland to learn about the Inshore fishery!" We invite you to visit.