Scoop, moss, handheld

rake; scoop

Inquire Download as PDF

From The Collection Of: Ingenium
Accession Number: 2021.0002
Discipline: Humanities
Classification: Fisheries, Tools & equipment, Harvesting
Artist / Manufacturer: Gillis, Gilbert, Gillis (manufacturer)
Date / Period: 1974 (creation date); 2021 (collection date); Used from 1974 to 2021. (period)
Place: Point Prim, Prince Edward Island, Canada (creation); Canada, Prince Edward Island (use)
Brand / Model: home built (model)
Description: Metal, steel and spruce wood

Spruce handle with metal scoop made of chicken wire on a steel rod frame.

none apparent

no
History of Use: This handmade scoop was used to collect pieces of "storm-tossed" Irish moss in the shallow waters off Point Prim, Prince Edward Island.
Narrative: Irish Moss (Chondrus crispus) is a species of red algae native to the shores of the north Atlantic and is the source for carrageenan, a thickener used in food processing, and agar, used in biomedicine. Irish moss harvesting became a key fishery in Atlantic Canada after French and Japanese sources of carrageenan were interrupted by the Second World War. By the 1970s, Canadian “mossers” supplied 60-70% of the world’s harvest with PEI accounting for half of Canadian production. For Islanders, Irish moss was the second most important fishery after lobster and was, for many households including that of Gilbert and Goldie Gillis, an important seasonal contribution to annual income. PEI’s Irish moss industry declined in the 1990s as prices, quality, and yield fell. While there still exists some Irish moss harvesting in PEI, the fishery is no longer as important as it was for the 4-5 decades after the Second World War.

Harvesters collect Irish moss from shallow coastal waters using three types of equipment: boat-drawn drag-rakes; horse-drawn scoops; and hand-held scoops, such as this object. This type of scoop was typically used by mossers who did not pursue Irish moss harvesting on a full-time basis during the height of the fishery in the 1970s. Full-time mossers used boats and horses as these modes captured greater quantities of moss. Drag-rakes, drawn by boats, were banned in 1977 as they often captured small lobster as well.
See Elsewhere: ingenium.ca

?map