Final Voyages

Fishing has long been documented as being the most dangerous occupation in the world. That is especially true in the harsh, and often bitter, marine environment of Atlantic Canada. These perilous conditions have caused the sinking and loss of hundreds of Atlantic Canadian fishing vessels, claiming enormous loss of life. Former host of CBC Radio's "Fisheries Broadcast" and now managing editor of The Navigator, Jim Wellman recounts some of those gripping tales as part of his regular monthly feature in The Navigator. Dubbed "Final Voyages," the feature has been one of the most popular sections of the magazine since its first issue in December 1997. The best ones have been gathered together to make up this first volume of sea stories.

The fishing industry in Atlantic Canada has gone through massive change in the last twenty years. Now, even small inshore vessels are outfitted with fishing equipment that would astound those mariners who passed on just a generation ago. But still, despite the incredible advances in technology, dozens of fishermen continue to die each year doing what they know best. Simply put, fishing is still one of the most dangerous professions in the world. In Final Voyages: Volume II Jim Wellman portrays the stories of some of those tragic events, along with other accounts of near-death experiences that finished with happier endings.

The fishing industry kills more people than any other job in the world. On average, Atlantic Canada loses one fisherman every month. From the pages of the Navigator magazine comes a collection of more than twenty sea stories from Jim Wellman's widely acclaimed series, Final Voyages. This volume marks his fourth venture onto the cold Atlantic waters, to stand alongside captain and crew and tell the stories of these unsung heroes: small-boat fishermen. In this book we learn the dangers of the sea that these mariners from Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, and Newfoundland and Labrador must face every day... in the deadliest profession known to man.