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Zita Cobb’s Recommendations to the Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Commerce and the Economy

May 7, 2026
News

On May 7, Shorefast Founder and CEO Zita Cobb was invited to speak with the Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Commerce and the Economy.

Senate Testimony

Zita Cobb, Founder and CEO, Shorefast (registered charity) and the Shorefast Institute for Place-Based Economies

Merci President Gignac.

Mesdames et Messieurs du Sénat,

Je vous remercie de cette invitation.

I’m Zita Cobb, Founder and CEO of Shorefast and the Shorefast Institute for Place-Based Economies.

At the root of my remarks is a question about what has value to Canadians, and how we protect, develop and care for it.

I come from Fogo Island, off the northeast coast of Newfoundland, one of the 5,000 incorporated communities that make up this country: places where social, cultural and economic capital has formed over generations. Twenty years ago, my brothers and I came home to do what we could for our island’s economy. In doing this work we learned that the market and government institutions that shape our economy do not optimize for where Canada’s assets reside – in the places we live.

A strong nation is the sum of strong places. Beneath the many crises we hear cited most often – housing, affordability, economic opportunity and mental health- sits a crisis of place.

WHAT IS POSSIBLE?

Fogo Island is a community of about 2,200 people. It has faced what thousands of Canadian communities know increasingly well: out-migration, an aging population and the squandering of valuable assets made dormant by policy and investment decisions that are made far away from where the impact lands.

Shorefast created the Fogo Island Inn, which opened in 2013. The Inn employs more than 220 people and is widely recognized as the leading global model of community-led, regenerative tourism. More than half of every guest dollar stays on Fogo Island; more than 96 per cent stays in Canada. To make that flow of money visible, Shorefast developed, trademarked and deployed Economic Nutrition Labels, a tool that shows, with the clarity of a food label, where money goes when you spend it.

Since 2013, our Shorefast work on Fogo Island has contributed more than $270 million to Canada’s GDP. If even 10 per cent of Canada’s 5,000 communities achieved Fogo Island’s economic growth in absolute terms, the result would be an additional $135 billion to our national GDP. If sustainable economic development is possible in a small community on the edge of the Atlantic, it is possible in communities across this country.

WHAT STANDS IN OUR WAY?

SMEs account for two-thirds of Canada’s employment and contribute close to half of our GDP. Yet only 11.5% of outstanding business loans in Canada go to SMEs. The OECD median is 44%. We are an extreme outlier.

Roughly 85% of Canadian municipalities do not have a bank branch within their boundaries. Even where a branch remains, credit decisions are made elsewhere. Small business lending is rooted in local knowledge and relationships — and we have systematically removed both. Where lending is available to SMEs, it is expensive and imposes great personal risk: personal guarantees, family homes pledged as collateral.

This lack of financial access has made Canada a country of stranded assets.

Three-quarters of Canadian small business owners plan to exit within the next decade. Without a financing pathway for sales to potential new local owners, employees or community trusts, that wave of retirement will accelerate closures and consolidation into distant ownership. It does, in the end, matter who owns what and where they are.

Our financial regulators could say, as Prospero says in The Tempest, that the system is “so safely ordered” — no hair lost, banks well-capitalized. But that accounting is blind to the businesses that never opened or expanded, the successions that never happened, the communities that quietly hollowed out — and we see this in communities across the country.

Blindness to our true assets and subpar risk aversion is not in our people; it’s in our institutions.

WHAT WOULD HELP?

One: Strengthen what we have.

Community Futures and CBDC offices offer expensive debt and have a loss rate of less than one per cent — far below the federal benchmark of 10 per cent. That is not strength; it is the system holding capital back. BDC’s mandate should permit, even expect, the kinds of losses that allow a development bank to deploy real capital. A development bank making profits is not lending; it is rationing.

Two: Get the regulatory frame right.

OSFI’s mandate is to protect against the failure of the system, not to deliver zero individual failures. Recalibrating risk weights is in federal hands. Require big banks to serve SMEs across a variety of geographies; enable new intermediaries such as fintechs, and enable credit unions by such measures as removing interprovincial barriers and expanding their capital pools.

Three: Align incentives.

Tax incentives for employee ownership trusts and community-ownership transactions, paired with an enhanced lifetime capital gains exemption for owners selling within their community would help level the playing field.

Four: Make money visible. Align procurement.

Adopt Economic Nutrition Labelling to align government procurement with economic priorities. Knowing where money goes is the first step to directing it better and buying from SMEs is a form of financing.

In Closing

Fogo Island is one example of what is possible when a community activates its own assets. Our story may be extraordinary, but it need not be exceptional. Canada is rich in places that hold human and natural assets. We need to activate them.

Twenty years of work has taught us that the deepest obstacles are not in our communities — they are in our institutions. Our economy has been optimized for large institutions, often at the expense of places.

The federal role is to change that: to build the frameworks that allow capital to flow to small and medium-sized businesses across the country, in every region, in communities of every size. The scale and reach of the solutions must match the scale and reach of our Canadian reality.

Let’s optimize for that. If we want to strengthen the nation, we must include the country.

Thank you. I look forward to your questions.

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Fogo Island Arts: 2025 Year in Review 

December 15, 2025
News
Photo Credit: Justin Parsons ©2025

As a founding program of Shorefast, Fogo Island Arts (FIA) places art at the centre of our work by fostering connections between the local and the global. 

In 2025, we continued to embody the concept of “holding on and reaching out” through new residencies, exhibitions, publications, and projects on Fogo Island and across the world. Here is a selection of moments from a year that demonstrated how rooting ourselves in place creates work that resonates far beyond it. 

Sharon Lockhart’s WINDWARD opens on Fogo Island 

After several summers spent filming here, Sharon Lockhart shared her work with the people of Fogo Island. On May 10, 2025, WINDWARD opened at the Fogo Island Gallery, where many generations gathered to experience the film installation, unveiling the island’s striking geological formations, unique climate, and austere beauty, brought to life through portrayals of youth. 

In a review for International Cinephile Society, John Lynn wrote: 

“It’s not nostalgia or romanticization but, a reminder that human life once felt slower, more spatially aware, and embedded in places. WINDWARD becomes a study of how people inhabit land rather than extract from it and how nature sets the terms of existence rather than serving as a resource or a forgotten part of our existence.” 

While the film that inspired it, Colin Low’s The Children of Fogo Island, stirred dialogue among the island’s communities, WINDWARD created a conversation between Fogo Island and the world. The work premiered at the 63rd New York Film Festival in September and is part of the Sharon Lockhart exhibition at the Walter Phillips Gallery in Banff until January 7, 2026. It’s also featured at the 15th Shanghai Biennale, Does the flower hear the bee? until March 31, 2026, and will travel to Toronto’s The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery in 2026. 

Sharon immersed herself in the island’s communities; through WINDWARD, she commands a similar commitment from the viewer. In Lynn’s words: “…Windward asks the viewer to slow down and to experience time the way the winds and waves do, and also to observe how humans used to live in slower, less technologically addictive times.”  

Two new residencies knit tradition to the global art world 

This year, Fogo Island Arts launched two new residences: the Residency for Emerging French Artists and the Newfoundland and Labrador Artist Residency.  

The inaugural French artist-in-residence, Maxime Cavajani, spent two months on Fogo Island, forging relationships throughout the communities. Maxime integrated fragments of our heritage into their work, inspired by the specificity of this place. The artist learned about a red paint, hand-made using red ochre and cod liver oil, that colours many of the island’s fishing stages and sheds. This Fogo Island red, in all its variations informed the works developed during their residency and exhibited at the 15th Shanghai Biennale, where Maxime is among the 67 participating artists from all around the world. Lillian Dwyer and Millicent Dwyer, from the Winds and Waves Artisan’s Guild of Tilting, contributed to one of these pieces, which borrows from the island’s craft tradition of rug hooking.  

The second emerging French artist–in-residence was Alexia Trawinski, based in Strasbourg. Alexia’s practise is centred on gestural drawing, painting, and architecture, and often involves natural materials, connecting her work to place. While in residence, she and fellow artists-in-residence organized an event, In Progress, to showcase the work they made while on Fogo Island.  

A common thread connects Maxime Cavajani’s time on Fogo Island to Ashley Hemmings, the first recipient of the Newfoundland and Labrador Artist Residency. Based in St. John’s, Ashley draws on their family history and playful narratives to create hand-stitched quilts and hooked rugs.  

During their residency, they joined the weekly rug hooking group, led by Joyce Coffin and organized by Shorefast at the Community + Business Hub, where Ashley completed a rug for the 30th Anniversary of the Rug Hooking Guild of Newfoundland and Labrador. The event gathered 150 rug hookers on Fogo Island to celebrate the guild, which started on Change Islands three decades ago. Ashley’s piece was inspired by the ferry terminal in Farewell, where every journey to Fogo Island begins.  

Local foodways meet contemporary interpretations  

Fogo Island’s foodways—the ways food intersect with our culture—are singular to this place; they’re essential to our identity and heritage. Through the Labrador Current Foodways Residency, artists collaborate with Fogo Island Inn’s Executive Chef Timothy Charles to incorporate traditional ingredients and culinary practices in their work. 

At the end of her stay on Fogo Island, Labrador Current Foodways resident Taus Makhacheva worked with the Inn’s culinary team to present Wobbling the Table, a Performative Dinner. Gathering artists and community members around a communal table, the experiential feast began with a Primordial Soup and ended with Eating the Imaginary, among 8 courses designed to nourish memory and the mind, as well as taste buds.  

Photo Credit: Justin Parsons ©2025

Fellow Foodways artist-in-residence Maria Simmons’ project shared a temporal nature; she makes art that eats itself. On Fogo Island, she developed a series of fermentations using bog berries. She also made “bog butter,” inspired by the ancient European tradition of preserving butter in wooden boxes that are buried in peat bogs. The artist buried four bog butters—one near each of Fogo Island Arts’ studios—to be unearthed in a year. Before leaving the island, Maria invited community members to the Punt Premises to sample her art, created with what can be found and foraged on Fogo Island. 

Curators convene on Fogo Island 

Part of the work of the Shorefast Institute for Place-Based Economies involves immersive convenings that facilitate peer learning. This November, Fogo Sessions invited 22 American and Canadian curators to Fogo Island to discuss the current state of the curatorial profession. The convening created a network and facilitated conversations that will continue to resonate and unfold. The guests gathered for a series of conversations, interspersed with excursions to Fogo Island’s cultural landmarks, as well as Fogo Island Workshops, Winds and Waves Artisans’ Guild, and the J.K. Contemporary art gallery.    

Fogo Island Arts alumni expand their reach 

Through Fogo Island Arts’ international residency program, we have created a global network of artists from a range of disciplines. Their stories continue to be intertwined with our own long after they leave our shores.  

The 2025 Bonavista Biennale featured two former artists-in-residence: Brian Amadi and Ethan Murphy. While on Fogo Island, Brian created Speech that Traps, a series of textile sculptures exploring the power of words to filter, skew, and determine how we relate to other people. Ethan showcased a series of photographs, many taken on Fogo Island. The artist’s story on ferry-reliant islands in Newfoundland appeared in The Globe and Mail, bringing national attention to the lives of people in outport communities. 

The works of two more FIA alumni, Abbas Akhavan and Lisa Oppenheim, were featured in the 15th Shanghai Biennale, along with Sharon and Maxime. Abbas will also represent Canada at the 61st edition of the Venice Biennale in 2026.   

Nelson White was longlisted for the 2025 Sobey Art Award. He also published Mimajimk (Living/Vivre), a celebration of Indigenous kinship, beauty, and resilience. 

In the fall, FIA and Sternberg Press, in collaboration with the National Gallery of Canada, published A Variability Quantifier, focusing on Liam Gillick’s weather station. The two documentary films made about the work (Variability Quantified and Quantified Variability) are documented in the book and accompanied by an interview between Liam Gillick and art historian Tom McDonough.  

Looking forward to 2026 

We are now accepting applications for the 2026 Newfoundland and Labrador Artist Residency and the 2026 Residency for Emerging French Artists and Curators. For details and how to apply: Open Calls – Fogo Island Arts. 

Join us for  Shore Time: Art, Design, Place on Fogo Island, October 1–3, 2026, as we consider the role of aesthetics, materials, and geography in response to the challenges of our time. Shore Time fosters meaningful exchanges, extending the island’s reach to the world and welcoming the world to our shores. Together, on an island off an island, we gather to reaffirm our connections to one another and build a vision of our shared future.  

Support Fogo Island Arts 

Fogo Island Arts seeks partnerships with organizations and donors to deliver artist residencies, publications, and strategic initiatives that respond to the needs of our time. These collaborations strengthen our ability to support artists, foster cultural exchange, and contribute to the vitality and visitor economy of Fogo Island.  

If you would like to learn more about partnership and patronage opportunities, please contact Tara Janzen, Senior Director, Philanthropy and Partnerships at [email protected].  

We’re grateful for the many generous supporters of our work, and to every artist who joined us on Fogo Island in 2025: 

Brian Amadi, Claudia Arozqueta, Alex Blue, Maxime Cavajani, Emelie Chhangur, Christiane Keys-Statham, Ashley Hemmings, Kapwani Kiwanga, Paul Kolling, Sonia Leimer,  Taus Makhacheva, Camille Richard, Maria Simmons, Sarah Stevenson, Caner Teker, Alexia Trawinski, and Kate Wong. 

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Strengthening Canada’s Place-Based Economies: Lessons from the Inaugural Fogo Session

November 27, 2025
News

“Shorefast asks a powerful question: ‘How can we create an economy in service of place?’ They explore how community economies are organized, their shared challenges, and the collective strategies to overcome barriers and unlock opportunities. It reminds us of the importance of nurturing a sense of place—something we risk losing if we don’t actively cultivate it.”

— Tanya Smith, Coast Capital Savings, Victoria, British Columbia

What Happens When Economic Stewards Gather in Place ?

Through two decades of economic development practice, Shorefast has learned that coherent strategies have the best chance to emerge when practitioners come together in a physical place in pursuit of coordinated action. A key component of the work of the Shorefast Institute for Place-Based Economies involves immersive convenings that facilitate peer learning, strategy sharing, and collective problem-solving. When held on Fogo Island, we’re calling these convenings “Fogo Sessions.”

The very first Fogo Session was held in early November, designed as a four-day working session that brought together representatives from the Institute’s inaugural community cohort. This cohort represents the first members of “Shorenet”, a “network of networks” connecting places committed to stewarding the local economies that serve their communities.
Fogo Session participants came from eight communities big and small across Canada: South Vancouver Island, BC; Battle River, AB; Scarborough, ON; Newmarket, ON; Prince Edward County, ON; Upper Fundy Coast & Foothills, NB; Gros Morne, NL; and Fogo Island.

Photo Credit: Siân Melton ©2025

A Core Challenge: Coordination Between The “Three Pillars”

To begin the inaugural Fogo Session, scene-setting included defining a shared understanding of “the economy,” followed by an overview of the “Three Pillars” concept popularized by economist Raghuram Rajan. Successful place-based development, noted Shorefast CEO Zita Cobb, requires an approach that considers and coordinates action across the pillars of community, government, and markets. Economic transformation happens at the intersection of these three forces, not in isolation.

“Real stewardship is recognizing that our roles and responsibilities within a community are ever evolving. To truly meet the needs of our communities—we must persuade markets, governments, and communities alike to place ‘place’ at the centre of every decision. Recruiting everyone into this mindset is how we accelerate meaningful change.”

— John Taylor, Mayor of the Town of Newmarket, Ontario

Shared Challenges Across Communities

Photo Credit: Natasha Freidus ©2025

Despite geographic and demographic differences, participants identified common struggles present in all represented communities. These included:

  • Persistent silos that make it difficult to building strategic partnerships across community organizations, government entities, and private sector actors;
  • The affordability crisis that undermines social mobility and the labour force needed to sustain placed-based businesses;
  • Accessing appropriate financial capital needed  for place-based investment and development
  • Recruiting economic actors to center place in their thinking, with better coordination between ground-up and top-down strategies when devising and implementing economic development policies and practices;
  • Working within the realities of local places, eg. honouring the history of communities while charting  future paths and investment readiness.
  • The gathering coincided with the release of the Federal Budget. There wasn’t sufficient time to delve into the details of the Budget but at first blush the $51B Build Communities Strong Fund stood out as something that needed to be mapped to on-the-ground initiatives. Clearly the group see communities of place as nation building assets.

The Fogo Session discussions revealed how interconnected many of these challenges are: housing affordability affects labour availability, which constrains business growth, which limits community capacity to attract investment. Places with growing visitor economies, for example, are particularly attuned to this challenge.

Shared Challenges Across Communities

During  online convenings preceding the Fogo Session and in-person on Fogo Island, participants shared unsolved challenges alongside successes to date with “community spotlight” presentations. A few examples include:

Photo Credit: Samantha Lleses ©2025

Newmarket, Ontario spoke of their impressive efforts to balance cultural development with commercial viability. They presented their Main Street revitalization project and shared forthcoming plans for blending heritage preservation with art and economic development.

Scarborough, Ontario showed how an innovative  development partnership in their community is modeling how creative ownership structures can activate local economic activity and prioritize local employment.

From Victoria, BC, we heard from two community-focused organizations that are prioritizing blended finance strategies that bridge philanthropy and traditional finance. 

Prince Edward County, ON, Gros Morne, NL, and Upper Fundy Coast and Foothills, NB are focused on sustainable, community-conscious tourism. Both places have prioritized the development of dedicated organizations and collaborative structures to responsibly manage tourism in their areas.  

From Battle River, AB, our participants spoke with great pride about the shifts and tensions facing the prairies at this moment in Canada’s history.

In addition to hearing from the visiting communities, participants learned through immersion on Fogo Island. Mealtimes offered the opportunity to delve into the Island’s foodways, and daily afternoon outings allowed for further exploration of culture, landscape, and economy.

Visiting Shorefast’s community businesses, the cohort saw first-hand how place-based assets have become economic engines. Excursions to the Punt Premises and local craft studios showcased the singular history and traditions of Newfoundland & Labrador, underscoring the importance of the inshore fishing culture that scaffolds Shorefast’s approach. 

Photo Credit: Samantha Lleses ©2025
Photo Credit: Natasha Freidus ©2025

Indeed, the importance of the past, present, and future of the Island’s fishery was continuously highlighted by the Shorefast team; after all, the charity’s community businesses and initiatives are intended to complement  the Island’s co-operatively owned fishery.

Experiencing ideas in practice and hearing about the work being done by other places inspires practitioners to apply  learnings to their own contexts. The team at Shorefast often invoke what is known as “Ostrom’s Law,” based on the work of Nobel-prize winning economist Elinor Ostrom: “That which is possible in practice is possible in theory.”

“This work resonated deeply with me from day one. It brought home for me the Nobel prize-winning truth: what is possible in practice is possible in theory. The principles shaping Shorefast’s community economic development model reflect what I’ve seen on the ground, blending local place-centred values with real-world impact.”

— Eoin Callan, Managing Director, Bloom Impact Capital, Prince Edward County, Ontario

Making More Things Possible in More Places: Five Potential Strategies

Discussions throughout the Fogo Session explored the realities of Canada’s current policy and business environment, potential paths toward greater alignment between ground-up initiatives, and the need for economic narratives and actions that include place-based communities in our economic planning. 

Inspired by these conversations and Canada’s recent federal budget, participants brainstormed potential avenues that would support place-based economies nationwide:

  • Improving regional transportation as a foundational element of place-based economic development
  • Access to  community-level data to allow placed-based planning and economic stewardship;
  • Accessing appropriate financial capital needed  for place-based investment and development
  • Strengthening local  procurement  through tools like Shorefast’s Economic Nutrition Certification Mark;
  • Enabling investment capital to flow into place-based communities. This work is being led by Shorefast’s Capital Solutions Working Group (CSWG).
  • Incentivizing place-based entrepreneurship via accessibility to investment capital, mentorship, and policies that reward businesses rooted in, supported by and accountable to local communities.

“My biggest takeaway is that the tangible and sustainable progress begins when the Market, Government, and Community pillars meet each other with curiosity instead of competition—not asking ‘What’s in it for us?’ but seeing what becomes possible when we work in balance.”

— Alaina Lockhart, Sussex Ale Works, and Former Member of Parliament, New Brunswick

What’s Next? Building a Country: A Community of Communities

Armed with further strategies to become more effective economic innovators and stewards, communities departed the Fogo Session eager to put what they had learned into practice. . The first Shorenet cohort expressed a commitment to a “community of communities” approach to Canadian economic development and to a shared belief that geography is immutable and our communities of place are unrecognized nation building assets Top-down investment coupled with ground up development is a winning formula.

The inaugural Fogo Session also shaped the Shorefast Institute’s roadmap in concrete ways. Participants identified critical gaps in Canada’s economic development policy ecosystem, and were able to “vote” for knowledge areas they most wanted to see resources developed towards in a group design session as part of the gathering. 

Significantly, participants emphasized the need for both digital learning platform and face-to-face convenings. They requested peer-to-peer matching between communities, accessible skills databases, shared project visibility, and small-group sessions with clear agendas and concrete outcomes. These insights are directly informing how the Institute will structure Shorenet’s learning platform and future Fogo Sessions.

Register your interest to join Shorenet next year

Learn more and submit an application

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Green Crab Monitoring on Fogo Island 

September 23, 2025
News

Community scientists take on an invasive species

Rural communities, like Fogo Island, often lack information that is specific to their place. Scientific research is conducted by experts in their field who are not embedded in the intricacies or exceptions of a specific location.  

The truth is that nobody knows a place like the people who live there. This is the simple idea that lies at the root of community science, which fosters a more grassroots approach to scientific research. By connecting community members to relevant research projects, it leverages local knowledge, skills, and experiences to reach community-centred solutions.  

Through our community science initiatives, we aim to enrich the information available on Fogo Island’s environment. We provide community members the training and tools needed to collect and share data that can make a real difference in preserving our natural world.   

One of these initiatives is the green crab monitoring program, launched in 2024 with the help of Kiley Best of the Marine Institute, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), and dedicated community members.  

The Invasive Green Crab: Why Does it Matter? 

Green crab is an invasive species that is native to Europe and North Africa. It started appearing around the Atlantic shores of Canada in the 1950s, making its way to Newfoundland in 2007.  

Its negative impact on our ecosystem is both ecological and socio-economic — ecological, because it damages marine habitats and feeds on native animals, and socio-economic, because it can potentially disrupt our fishing industry through aggressive behaviour towards species essential to the fishery, like lobsters and juvenile finfish.  

Considering this impact, it’s essential to limit their spread in order to protect the future of Fogo Island’s environment and economy. 

From Awareness to Active Removal on Fogo Island 

Our monitoring program on Fogo Island began almost as a fluke. In early 2024, Fisheries Biologist Kiley Best of the Marine Institute led a presentation on green crab on the island for community members, fishers, and representatives of the Fogo Island Co-op. The purpose of the presentation was to raise awareness and share knowledge on the invasive species. While green crab had been identified in other parts of Newfoundland, it had never been spotted in the waters around Fogo Island.  

After that presentation, Kiley suggested green crab monitoring as a community science program to our Environmental Stewardship team. The expectation was far from finding green crab, but rather to engage and educate community members on the practices and tools required to trap invasive species. The program’s main goal would be awareness. 

In summer of 2024, our team launched the program with a handful of volunteers in different communities. We provided each volunteer with Fukui traps (multi-species traps from Japan), rope, bait, a log book, and an experimental license issued by DFO. No green crabs were found, but the program proved a successful way to engage Fogo Islanders in community science. 

Everything changed in the fall of that year when fisher Kevin Ford trapped around 27 green crabs in the community of Island Harbour. Around the same time, green crab was also detected near Twillingate and around Change Islands. The teenager from Change Islands who found the crab, Brody King, was even named Newfoundland and Labrador’s first Ocean Hero of the Year by the World Oceans Day committee.  

This changed the purpose of our program from awareness to prevention and active removal. It also led DFO to declare Fogo Island, and the wider Notre Dame Bay area, as an area of interest for green crab. In 2025, we maintained a small pool of volunteers throughout different communities. While the team remained small, their activities grew exponentially with hundreds of green crabs being trapped over the summer. Some of the volunteers are children from the community who are excited to check their traps every day, eager to share their learnings with their classmates and neighbours.  

One of the island’s most prolific volunteers is Janet Facey, a teacher at Fogo Island Central Academy. Janet joined the program as a fun summer activity for her to do with her kids (aged 7 and 11).  

“I’m the green crab lady,” she laughs while pulling out green crabs from a trap set near the canal in the community of Fogo, where she lives, “I’m a little bit obsessed. It’s exciting to track how many you get.”  

Janet has trapped almost 900 green crabs, mostly from the same spot in Fogo. “Once we started catching them, we tried being strategic about it and trying different areas to find hotspots,” she says.  

Beyond being an immersive way of teaching her kids about the ocean, Janet explains that it has allowed her to engage with many community members who are curious about what she’s trapping. She always explains to them what green crab is and why it matters, adding that it’s helped raise awareness and interest in green crab monitoring. Since she traps near a vacation rental, it’s also drawn the curiosity of tourists and visitors to the island. 

An Ongoing Initiative 

Shorefast’s green crab monitoring program is a testament to the power of community science. The dedication of our volunteers shows the love and care Fogo Islanders bear for their environment. The program places them at the forefront of our preservation initiatives and relies on their time, skills, and knowledge to protect our ecosystem from this invasive species, which would never have been discovered if it wasn’t for our community members.  

As the program evolves, we’re working with DFO to explore its potential expansion. We hosted the Indian Bay Ecosystem Corporation (IBEC) for a workshop to deepen our knowledge of green crab monitoring. IBEC is conducting research on the green crab in various parts of Notre Dame Bay. Their project is fully funded by DFO as a response to an increase in green crab found in eastern and north-eastern Newfoundland. Currently, our removal plans for the green crabs include turning the trapped species into compost that community members can use for their gardens.  

We’re grateful to our volunteers, the Marine Institute, and the DFO for our ongoing partnerships.  

Follow our green crab monitoring work here: Green Crab Dashboard 

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Want to invest in the future of local economies?

September 22, 2025

We’re excited to announce the Canada-wide launch of Economic Nutrition, a powerful tool that helps people make informed purchasing decisions that support their communities. Our community businesses have been using the Economic Nutrition Certification Mark since 2018, and we’re now expanding nationwide. Learn more about the initiative, our inaugural partners, and how you can join our Economic Nutrition movement. 

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World Ocean Week 2025 on Fogo Island 

July 11, 2025
News

World Ocean Week serves as a powerful platform for showcasing Shorefast’s Environmental Stewardship work.  

In 2025, a focus on engaging youth in hands-on learning experiences connected classroom education with real-world environmental action. In-school workshops, a shoreline clean-up, and multiple activities at the Town of Fogo Island’s World Ocean Day celebration highlighted how collaborative partnerships and place-based education can inspire a new generation of community scientists. 

Photo by Tom Cochrane

Fogo Island Central Academy In-School Workshops 

Exploring Plastic Pollution through Cod Dissection (Grades 7-9) 

Through a partnership with the Civic Laboratory for Environmental Action Research (CLEAR), Shorefast’s team led students through an in-school cod dissection to examine the digestive tract for plastic pollution. Students learned the anatomy of a cod fish and explored how communities can participate in community science by collecting and analyzing fish guts for plastic pollution. 

This hands-on activity engaged students in scientific research while deepening their understanding of plastic pollution in our oceans. It also encouraged them to interact with a familiar and important species to Fogo Island through the lens of environmental stewardship. 

Water Monitoring: Freshwater vs. Seawater (Grades K-5) 

Our team led three field trips for students in grades K-5 to our local pond, where they explored water quality using Water Rangers test kits. Water Rangers is an organization dedicated to equipping communities with accessible tools to monitor and care for local waterways. Students learned how to test both pond water and seawater (brought in for comparison) while discussing the differences between the two and how they are interconnected within our coastal ecosystem. 

Shoreline Clean-up 

Continuing our annual tradition of an internal roadside cleanup, Shorefast volunteers picked up waste and debris alongside the road and coast in Joe Batt’s Arm. 

In preparation for World Ocean Week, Shorefast team members partnered with Atlantic Healthy Oceans Initiative (AHOI) in Gros Morne, NL to learn how to conduct waste audits – an important tool for identifying its source and reducing debris. Building on that knowledge, the team conducted an audit from the roadside cleanup to better understand waste on Fogo Island. The team found the top 3 contributors to the roadside cleanup were unidentified plastics, cigarettes, and food wrappers. 

World Ocean Day at the Iceberg Arena 

To launch our community science monitoring program for detecting green crab in our area, Shorefast hosted a booth to inform the community on the invasive species. The booth included underwater GoPro footage of a green crab, a recently caught green crab, an identifying game, and a sign-up list for interested volunteers. 

Shorefast also invited CLEAR to take part in World Ocean Day celebrations. CLEAR focuses on addressing plastic pollution through community-engaged science. At the arena event, the lab shared its community science projects, demonstrating how the public can be involved in tackling plastic waste. CLEAR also presented research related to Fogo Island, highlighting the importance of local data collection. 

In partnership with Kalup, a seaweed nursery startup from Change Islands, Shorefast hosted an interactive seaweed farming booth showcasing the full cultivation process, from nursery stages in a seawater lab to outplanting at the seaweed plot and drying techniques used after harvest. The booth highlighted our growing collaboration with Kalup and shared recent progress of our Seaweed Pilot Project, offering insight into sustainable seaweed farming in Newfoundland. 

To further generate interest in the project, Fogo Island Inn and Growlers created kelp ice cream using seaweed harvested from the plot off the coast of Fogo Island. The treat sparked conversation on how local produce can be incorporated into our food, and every available scoop was served.  

To encourage creative connections with seaweed, Fogo Island Arts hosted a sun printing booth using a cyanotype process. Participants created prints using locally foraged dried seaweed, learning about different seaweed varieties while designing ocean-inspired artwork to take home. 

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Growers’ Circle

June 2, 2025
News
Photo by Anja Sajovic

Restaurant Pearl Morissette on Fogo Island 

On May 28, 2025, Fogo Island Inn’s Executive Chef Tim Charles led a growers’ circle at The Storehouse, where Restaurant Pearl Morissette’s culinary team, the growers of Farm on Forest, and visitors and residents of Fogo Island gathered for a conversation around what connects us all: good food.  

Restaurant Pearl Morissette’s Co-Executive Chef Daniel Hadida kick-started the discussion by introducing the Ontario-based, MICHELIN-starred restaurant’s approach to regenerative farming. “We’re a terminus for regenerative practices that includes growers, fishers, and foragers. We represent the public part of that circle.”  

Also present was the restaurant’s resident grower, Shane Harper, who calls himself a “Chef de Farm”. Shane described how his garden serves as another station in the kitchen staffed by “chef-trained gardeners” who focus on cultivating the often-esoteric ingredients featured in the restaurant’s dishes.  

Photo by Anja Sajovic

Daniel acknowledged the particularities and privileges of a restaurant surrounded by very nutrient-rich soil — Restaurant Pearl Morissette is located in Ontario’s fertile wine country. In a garden only 300 feet away from the restaurant, the team grows 300 crops. While the conditions appear more arduous in Newfoundland, Farm on Forest’s Tavish Russell and Anja Sajovic drew parallels between their work and Restaurant Pearl Morissette’s.  

Tavish and Anja moved to Newfoundland in 2012 (him from Saskatchewan, her from Slovenia). Struck by the island’s food insecurity and poor quality of imported produce, the duo slowly transformed their home in St. John’s into an urban homestead that could provide high-quality ingredients. Thanks to a lot of experimentation, they now grow around 200-250 crops and supply many chefs, including Chef Tim at Fogo Island Inn.  

“There is a perception that you can only grow five or six crops here,” said Tavish, “We find inspiration in finding more crops that can grow. The exciting thing about growing in Newfoundland is that there is so much opportunity. There was a strong culture of agriculture, and it died off for a period of time, but it’s starting to come back in these small holdings.” 

Photo by Steffen Jagenburg

Anja attributes this return to the influence of restaurants. “Restaurants play a huge role in educating communities on new tastes and new ingredients. If one grower starts growing kale, then shows his neighbour, that’s how you get the ball rolling.” 

This influence is clear on Fogo Island, where Chef Tim and his team have helped introduce crops like kale and fennel to the gardens of local growers who supply the Inn, including Alfred Coffin. Alf was one of the Fogo Island growers who joined the circle, along with Winston Osmond, Al Dwyer, Allan Foley, Neal Buffett, and Alf’s granddaughter, Keiona Brown.  

Fogo Islanders have been growing their own food since long before regenerative farming was adopted by forward-thinking restaurants and chefs.  “Ever since I was strong enough to hold a shovel, I’ve been cultivating the land,” said Al. “I’ve grown everything,” added Winston, “Every seed I could get my hands on.” He shared that they might not benefit from acres of land, like in Ontario or elsewhere, but that there are quarter acres and sheltered areas between rocks. It takes creativity to grow here, and a stubborn streak, and, according to Keiona, a dash of competitiveness.  

“A lot of older people are stuck in their ways,” she said, “My pop said you can’t grow carrots. There was a bit of competition in showing him that you can. If there’s a will, there’s a way. It’s all about mixing the old with the new.” 

Tavish echoed that sentiment. “There is so much to learn from the old ways of growing crops, but now we also have access to information on how people grow things around the world.” 

Photo by Anja Sajovic

While the growers’ circle celebrated the progressive impact on growers of culinary destinations like Restaurant Pearl Morissette and Fogo Island Inn, it also showcased the lessons still being learned from our traditional foodways. Daniel and Shane listened intently as Fogo Island’s growers discussed spraying their crops with seawater, which infuses produce with natural salinity. Alf and Winston also explained how they’ve not only used sea plants and kelp to fertilize the soil, but capelin and lobster shells.  

Conversations around foodways between growers from here and away highlight the necessity of a healthy food system. Nourished by locally grown ingredients, a healthy community contributes to the health of the environment and of the economy. These conversations are also crucial to inspire the next generation of growers, like Keiona Brown, who learned from her grandfather and hopes to continue the traditions of growing on Fogo Island. 

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Seaweed Cultivation Around Fogo Island 

May 16, 2025
News

An important part of Shorefast’s work under the banner of Environmental Stewardship is to find new ways to create economic opportunity for our community while relying on the inherent knowledge and geographic assets already in place.  

Growing seaweed is at the core of our current environmental initiatives — it can lead to economic and environmental benefits for Fogo Island. 

Seaweed Pilot Project: Planting Seeds 

Through our Seaweed Pilot Project, Shorefast is leading research and development towards the establishment of seaweed cultivation around Fogo Island. Successful seaweed cultivation in our waters could diversify the local economy and lower the barrier of entry into this form of aquaculture for the fish harvesters of Fogo Island. 

Led by our Environmental Stewardship team, the project is currently a collaboration with the Fogo Island Co-operative Society and Kalup, a start-up on Change Islands and the first independent seaweed nursery to produce seeds in Newfoundland. Kalup is operated by Varrick Grimes and his business partners, Robbin Cheesman and David Woodrow. Originally from Lewisporte, Newfoundland, Varrick’s extensive experience in theatre has brought him around the world, from France and the UK to Kenya and Thailand. Reading Eat Like a Fish by Bren Smith inspired Varrick to change career and try his hand at ocean farming. In 2024, he set up Kalup inside the Change Islands’ fish processing plant, where he grows kelp spores with the support of the community.

The Seaweed Pilot Project was developed with Marine Institute (MI) at Memorial University of Newfoundland and originally funded by the Canadian Centre for Fisheries Innovation (CCFI). In 2024, the team enjoyed their first successful seaweed harvest, an accomplishment made possible by the many Fogo Island fishers and community members who provided their expertise and guidance. 

Looking to more sustainable ways of farming 

On Fogo Island, seaweed has always been used as garden fertilizer. Local gardeners will collect seaweed from Fogo Island’s beaches and lay thick layers atop of the soil. 

Seaweed farming is one of the most sustainable forms of aquaculture. Seaweed can be used as biofuel, fertilizer, and animal feed. As a nutrient-packed ingredient, it can even be served in healthy, plant-based dishes. Most importantly, seaweed can be crucial to preserving the ocean that is essential to the livelihood of many Fogo Islanders. It promotes healthy oceans by: 

 

  • absorbing carbon 
  • improving water quality 
  • combatting ocean acidification 
  • creating habitats for marine life 

Year-Round Farming 

Farming seaweed is a year-round endeavour; our team braves rain, shine, or snow to maintain our crop.  

The wild harvest begins in early fall when we find mature seaweed to use for a nursery. The nursery — an indoor saltwater lab facility — extracts spores from seaweed to grow more plants. Only a few blades are needed to produce up to 40,000 blades of farmed seaweed. Young seaweed seeds grow in the nursery for 4 to 7 weeks. 

In late fall, we “seed” our lines. The seeds grow on a thin line in the nursery where they are monitored for ideal growing conditions (light, temperature and nutrients). Once the spores grow into small seaweed plants ready, we take that line and wrap it around our larger deployment line located in our seaweed plot off the coast of Fogo Island. These small plants are left in the water to grow through winter.  

Farming continues in colder climate. Year-round, our Environmental Stewardship team tests the waters around our seaweed growing area to ensure conditions are right for happy and healthy seaweed. We regularly check water temperature, dissolved oxygen, and salinity — all of which have an impact on aquatic life. We also ensure our gear stays in place through winter storms and turbulent waters. 

Our main growing season runs from early spring to July. That’s when we start measuring growth and monitoring how quickly the seaweed is maturing.  

July is a very exciting time: harvest time! If it’s successful, we spend July to August maintaining the plot for the next growing season until we can extract mature seaweed from our local environment and start all over again. 

The future of seaweed on Fogo Island & beyond 

Through our investment in research and development, we continue to explore and expand on the uses for farmed seaweed beyond its traditional applications. This exploration relies on collaboration, such as our research partnership with Dr. Christina Smeaton at Memorial University, Grenfell Campus. Dr. Smeaton studies the reduction of carbon footprints in agriculture by using seaweed-based fertilizers.  

For more information and updates on our Seaweed Pilot Project, follow us on Instagram and Facebook or contact our Environmental Stewardship team at [email protected] 

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2023 & 2024 Impact Report

Shorefast’s work demonstrates what is possible.

April 23, 2025
News

Across two decades, Shorefast has developed and tested initiatives on Fogo Island that, alongside our fishery, continue to prove it is possible for small places to thrive in the global economy.

By harnessing local knowledge and reaching out into the broader world to learn from others, we have built internationally recognized community businesses and delivered public programming at the forefront of global thought leadership. As a whole, our work demonstrates the power of tethering financial capital to place.

Today, we’re proud to share our 2023/2024 Impact Report, a testament to the potential of place-based approaches to economic development.

Read the report
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Economic Nutrition for the Places We Live

5 Things We Can All Do Today

February 5, 2025
News

Now more than ever we need strong local economies. The choices we make – both as individuals and businesses – have a direct impact on the economic health of the places we live, work, and play.  

At Shorefast, we have developed the practice of “Economic Nutrition” and pioneered a label to show where the money goes. Strengthening local economies goes beyond checking “Buy Canada” lists. Here are five ways we can act today.  

1. Practice Place-Based Purchasing 

Economic strength  at the community level goes beyond the good feeling of shopping local, it’s about long-term thinking. Before ordering from a large online retailer, consider checking if the product is available closer to home.  

The long-term impact of losing a vibrant network of local businesses should be factored into decision-making. In your personal purchasing and your purchases for your workplace, favour local suppliers and start with your community, your province, and your region.

2. Ownership Matters 

Just because a store has a physical footprint in your neighbourhood does not always mean it’s locally owned. Before purchasing a product or visiting a store, take a few minutes to research who owns the business. Locally owned companies help ensure that money stays within the community and that business decisions reflect local needs.  

3. Support Responsible Employment  

Look for businesses that hire locally and practice ethical labour practices. If you own a business, find ways to invest in your employees. This ensures that a higher percentage of your dollar re-circulates in the local economy.  

4. Pay attention to price 

If a price seems shockingly low, ask yourself: How was this product made so cheaply? Often, low prices reflect hidden costs – such as environmental damage – that aren’t accounted for. On the other hand, excessively high prices may indicate price gouging. 

At Shorefast, We provide pricing transparency through Economic Nutrition. For example, if staying at the Fogo Island Inn, over half of your money will remain on Fogo Island, 96% stays in Canada, the majority goes directly to labour, and there is no private gain as any operating surpluses are returned to Shorefast for community reinvestment. Being mindful of pricing helps ensure that our purchasing decisions support a fair and balanced economy. 

5. Set Realistic Goals 

Changing habits takes time, so start small. Set achievable goals within your household budget. Consider setting a specific target of your purchases from local businesses or identifying a few specific companies to intentionally support. Small steps add up to meaningful change over time. 

At Shorefast, our community businesses use the Economic Nutrition Certification Mark. By making it clear where the money goes, it’s possible to make purchasing decisions  that are  economically healthy choices for our local communities.  You can learn more about the Economic Nutrition Certification Mark here.  

Support our Work 

Shorefast’s work would not be possible without the generous support of friends and donors who believe in our mission and want to help amplify our work on Fogo Island and beyond. Shorefast is a registered Canadian charity (#85883 0904 RR0001) and contributions are eligible for official donation receipts. Established to deepen ties with our American friends, Shorefast US Fund is a 501(c)(3) organization, registered with the IRS.  

To all of our friends, patrons, and supporters, thank you for your commitment to Shorefast and to building strong communities of place 

Donate  

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