SEELYES COVE - He
thoroughly enjoyed it, yes, but there was nothing selfish about the advocacy
work that knowledgeable career multi-species fisherman Robin Carter of Seeleys
Cove did on behalf of those involved in the traditional Bay of Fundy fishery,
says his wife and business partner Helen (Lewis).
"His goal was to better the fishery, keep everybody fishing and not over
fish," she said Thursday. "He just loved meetings and having a voice
and try to get things done."
Once people got to know him, she said, they knew he wasn't trying to pull the
wool over anybody's eyes.
"He was honest," she said. "He only wanted to do what was best
for the fishery and other people. He didn't just want it for himself, but for
the whole industry as a whole."
Carter, 51, president of the Fundy Weir Fishermen's Association for the past
six years, lost a five-and-a-half year battle with multiple myeloma - cancer of
the bone marrow - on Tuesday.
He was also president of the Harbour Authority in Seeleys Cove, a former
deputy chief and firefighter with the Pennfield Volunteer Fire Department, and a
member of the local service district, the Masonic Order and Christ Church
(Anglican) in Pennfield.
The funeral service is scheduled for 4 p.m. today at Pennfield Baptist
Church.
Fisheries Minister Rick Doucet was quick to pay tribute to Carter, a 2007
appointee to the Minister's Round Table on Fisheries, an advisory group formed
to provide government with advice on issues important to the future of the
fishing industry.
"Although he had a quiet manner, he was not afraid to speak his mind -
and when he did, people listened. His advice was invaluable to government and
industry alike," said Doucet. "Carter was well respected by his peers
in the southwest New Brunswick fishery and will be missed by all who knew and
worked with him."
Allen Abbott of Chance Harbour, who becomes interim president of the Fundy
Weir Fishermen's Association, said Carter "was one of those really unique
individuals, a go-to guy, a person who worked very hard for his family and his
industry.
"I would say his passing has diminished our fishing community," he
added. "We need more Robin Carters in society. The community of interest he
had was more than just how particular expertise. He was interested in everything
that affects our fishing communities directly, or indirectly."
Association manager Bob Cochrane of St. George said Carter was "very
hard-working, very honest and seemed to have a hotline to all the issues he was
involved in," including his efforts to keep the aquaculture industry from
entirely squeezing out weir fishermen.
"He was a leader, not a follower," he said. "He seemed to know
the issues almost before they came up."
Born in Blacks Harbour on Jan. 20, 1957, Robin Glenmore Carter was the sixth
of eight children of Belle (Sellars) and Delbert Carter, a Seeleys Cove lobster
fisherman.
Besides his wife, Carter's survivors include one son, Aaron, who worked
beside him in the fishery; two daughters, Jennifer Pitre and Stefany Carter
(after whom his boat was named); four brothers; two sisters; and three
grandchildren.
Carter left school in Grade 8 to fish with his father and his brother Eldon.
He met Helen, a Beaver Harbour girl, while she was working as a waitress at
Smitty's (now Smith's) on the Pennfield stretch following high school graduation
in 1979. They were married on Aug. 19, 1983, at Calvary Baptist Church in Blacks
Harbour.
SOURCE: New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal (Saint John, NB) - August 8, 2008.
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