By Michael Gorman

THE VANGUARD

NovaNewsNow.com

In a town known for its curious stance on signs, they may be the most curious of all — a fishing town that doesn't permit fishing on its own waterfront.

It's difficult to take a walk along the Yarmouth, N.S. waterfront without encountering a sign that tells you fishing is prohibited, offloading fish is prohibited, or that you aren't allowed on the wharf at all.

For residents of town the signs are enough to make you laugh but for a visitor to the area they can be outright confusing. The reasons for the signs depend on the area and whom you ask. In some cases it makes sense; in other cases not so much.

Dave Whiting, who, as part of the Port of Yarmouth, oversees the government wharf, said their signs are there for one reason and one reason only: liability.

The signs, which say the wharf is off limits without authorization and threaten trespassers with a $500 fine, are there because it's a working waterfront and people could get hurt, he said.

"At the advice of our insurance company and legal counsel we put up signs saying, just basically, 'you're not allowed on the wharf.'"

Whiting said in the past people have injured themselves on the wharf while trying to take pictures or look around. And on a working waterfront, he said, it isn't safe to have people there who might not be familiar with the area and aren't paying attention.

"Contrary to what a lot of people think of a working waterfront as being an old fisherman sitting on a lobster trap with a pipe in his mouth telling war stories, it means that you've got trucks, it means that you've got ropes, it means that you've got all kinds of stuff."

So that explains the government wharf. And the wharf behind Rudder's, the Parker Eakins Wharf, is privately owned, which means the owners there can do whatever they want.

But what about the town's wharf?

In the case of the town's wharf, the Killam Brothers Wharf, Mayor Charles Crosby said it comes down to ensuring that the area is free from problems. Without an area specifically designated for casting a line and sitting for a while, Crosby said there are too many things happening in the vicinity of the wharf to permit something as simple as fishing.

"You make a bylaw for everybody," he said, "it can't only apply to half the people."

Still, Crosby said it was a difficult position. He said the town wants people on the waterfront and wants them using it. When it comes time for the town's input on the port's master plan he said he would be pushing for an area such a marina where fishing is permitted.

But at a time when the town needs visitors more than ever and is trying to steer them towards the downtown, surely there must be some way to bridge the gap.

One possibility that's been mentioned in the past, although never fully pursued, is some kind of fishermen's market where people can go to the waterfront, buy seafood as it comes off the boats and get a glimpse of how things operate on a working waterfront.

Whiting believes there could be room for such an idea.

"You might see that come out of our master plan," he said. "I don't know how it's going (to turn out) but there are other places like that."

Whiting said the idea really comes down to having someone willing to put things together, no different than opening a store.

"People go down and buy lobsters at the wharf and stuff like that but you've kind of got to know who's bringing it in. So some kind of operation like that I think would be beneficial. It's something (the port) wouldn't start up but we would certainly look at."

Crosby agreed that it's important to continue developing the waterfront and make it as friendly as possible to as many people as possible.

"The town has as much input as anybody on that (master plan)," he said. "The waterfront belongs to the town of Yarmouth. It doesn't belong to anybody else; it belongs to the people of Yarmouth . . . If you look at the number of dollars that have been spent . . . on the waterfront, we've done that for a reason. We've done that because we want the tourists — and the local people, not just the tourists — to be able to use our waterfront. And that's the main concern of council, to make sure that the waterfront is usable for the fishermen, the industry and for the citizens at large."