Putting a face on the fight for search and rescue in Labrador

Advocacy groups and residents of Labrador are pleading for improved search and rescue off the coast of the Big Land in a new safety campaign called Faces of Fish Harvesters.

Among them include a recreational boater whose grandson just started fishing offshore, the daughter of a fish harvester whose father's boat went missing in 1990, fish harvesters from both Labrador and the island of Newfoundland and the mayor of Happy Valley-Goose Bay, who managed Labrador and St. Anthony coast guard radio services for twenty years. 

The Labrador Coalition for Search and Rescue co-ordinator Jeanette Russell started the campaign on April 23. Over 150 people have added their voice to the cause since, whether as a featured fish harvester of the day, or as someone with ties and connections to the Labrador coast.

The root of the issue, Russell says, is the "Labrador SAR black zone." While Newfoundland has seven primary search and rescue stations and three in-shore rescue craft stations, Labrador has zero, she said.

"When it comes down to the mandate of a primary search and rescue station … their only job is to do search and rescue. They're not required to do anything else," Russell told CBC News.

Solely relying on secondary search and rescue resources, on the other hand, "comes down to being fortunate," she added.

"You have to be lucky enough for the coast guard auxiliary vessel to be nearby," she said, referring to the volunteer-run arm of the Canadian Coast Guard.

"Or possibly, if you're very lucky for a search and rescue lifeboat to be patrolling the area or for another vessel of opportunity to be in your vicinity to respond to a marine incident."

As the mother of Marc Russell — a fish harvester who, alongside his crew mate Joey Jenkins, was lost at sea in 2021 — Jeanette Russell's fight for search and rescue resources in Labrador is personal.

Since the death of her son, Russell has been lobbying politicians, advocating for change. 

So far, she said she doesn't feel she's being heard. But by highlighting the people connected to the Labrador coast, Russell aims to put more of a face on the issue.

"Ottawa and the Canadian Coast Guard and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans have lost sight of who we're lobbying for," Russell said. "My effort today doesn't change what happened to Marc and Joey, but it can save future lives."

Call for long-range, air-rescue helicopter in Labrador

Jennifer Horsman, a former employee with the Canadian Coast Guard, is among those standing behind the campaign.

"Labradorians are taxpayers. They deserve better service," said Horsman. "You know, it's a huge, vast region." 

Now based in New Brunswick, Horsman worked as a maritime search and rescue co-ordinator at the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax between 2011 and 2021. Overseeing responses in Labrador was very tricky, she said, thanks to the region's remote terrain, challenging weather conditions and limited communications systems.

Horsman's number one recommendation would be for the military to install a Cormorant helicopter, not the coast guard, as the Air Force is in charge of the aeronautical portion of SAR.

"Labrador is a huge coast, and to have a vessel that could cover the entirety of the coast, logistically, that might not be possible," Horsman said. "Whereas, you know, a helicopter can get on scene a lot faster."

Horsman explained that Cormorants are long-range helicopters, capable of hoisting people from ships and remote locations on the coast. She said during her time with the coast guard, the provincial government often requested Cormorants for medical evacuations in Labrador, saying it could take 10 to 12 hours for the air-rescue helicopters to arrive.

Horsman added that since the military oversees search and rescue in the country, she believes 5 Wing Goose Bay would be the ideal site for a permanent search and rescue station in Labrador.

"They have existing infrastructure there in Goose Bay, there already is a squadron there. So it would just make sense," she said.

'They don't care about Labrador lives'

Liberal MP Joanne Thompson, who is continuing her role as the federal minister of fisheries, declined CBC's interview request. But in a statement, the department said the safety of mariners and the protection of the marine environment are the top priorities of the Canadian Coast Guard.

"Recognizing there are always improvements to be made, we are working collaboratively with our search and rescue partners, including Indigenous and coastal communities, to bolster marine emergency response capacity in Labrador," the statement reads.

The department said the Canadian Coast Guard evaluated its search and rescue delivery on the Labrador coast in 2024, though a report is still being drafted. 

As well, the department pointed to the expansion of the volunteer-run Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary in Labrador, the Indigenous Community Boat Volunteer Program, and the 24/7 marine radio communication service.

With a new federal government in power, Russell hopes to secure meetings with federal MPs about the issue. But so far, she said, she's been met with a "lack of appetite" in Ottawa.

"I don't know if I got to go up to Ottawa and chain myself onto the gates, or I don't know what it's going to take. But, to date, we're not getting anywhere," she said. "They don't care about Labrador lives, but our lives do matter. And we are going to have another catastrophe if they don't get something started."

St. Lewis fish harvester Chad Strugnell, who's taken an active role in the campaign, agrees this is a matter of life and death. 

Without primary search and rescue, Strugnell said he worries about the response time to marine incidents, especially during winter when there are less vessels on the water.

On top, he said, he's seeing more and more recreational boats on the Labrador coast lately.

"It's very concerning. Every year that we go on the water, you know, it's in our minds," said Strugnell.

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