Laurence Cook, the president of the Lobster Council of Canada and a longtime leader of the Grand Manan Fishermen’s Association, passed away in April.
Cook served in numerous other leadership roles in Canadian fisheries management, including positions with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Scientific Roundtable for Canada, according to Bonnie Morse, the project manager for Grand Manan Fishermen’s Association.
“Taking on leadership roles was his natural personality,” Morse said. “When Laurence came back to the island after university, he started fishing and even though he was very young he quickly assumed a leadership role of our lobstermen’s committee. He served as chair of that [committee] for probably over 20 years, and through that, he started to take on more significant leadership positions regionally and nationally.”
Most recently, Cook helped to dispel tensions along the U.S.-Canada border last year after the U.S. Coast Guard began increasing their patrols and searches of fishing boats in the area around Grand Manan, ostensibly searching for illegal immigrants. Cook spent countless hours working on the issue, including giving numerous high-profile media interviews, including one with The New York Times.
“Laurence was really instrumental in the issue over the disputed [fishing] areas,” Morse said. “That summer was really tense and he was integral in how we all transitioned into the new reality we found ourselves in. It was those sort of moments, with him on the international stage – that’s where he shined.”
Morse said Cook, 53, was diagnosed with cancer in December 2018 and passed away on 24 April. She said Cook’s leadership positions have not yet been filled.
“When you have someone who’s that significant a figure, I don’t think you ever replace them,” she said. “[His death] happened so quickly – we’re still trying to come to terms with everything and figure out what’s best for the organization. We had a committee meeting earlier this week, with some discussion about who might step into the chair position, but it’s likely we will split up the responsibilities into a co-chair role.”
In effect, Morse said that meant Cook was doing two jobs for the association, in addition to fishing for lobster, scallops, and herring.
“How much time fishermen serve on these boards, voluntarily, requires an incredible commitment. It costs them fishing time because they’re constantly going to meetings. People should be commended for doing it,” Morse said. “It can be a thankless job. Everybody has opinions and getting consensus can be challenging sometimes. Laurence was great at that. That fact that he did it for 20 years, and that people were still willing to work with him, speaks a lot about his personality and who he was.”
Photo courtesy of family of Laurence Cook
