Fogo Island Cooperative Society Ltd

In 1967, we had to make a life-altering decision on Fogo Island. Leave our beloved island home and resettle on the mainland of Newfoundland and Labrador, or stay and find a way to make it on our own. We stayed and we made it our own. To ensure our survival, we turned to what we knew best for hundreds of years...the sea. Following a process of community self-discovery now known worldwide as the Fogo Process, our fishers formed the Fogo Island Co-operative Society, a community based enterprise on which we built the economy of our island. We built more boats. We built bigger boats. We took over processing facilities abandoned by private enterprise. We built more plants. We sought new markets. The Fogo Island Co-op has not only survived, it has thrived now for over forty years. When giants in this industry failed, some merged, some sought government interventions the Fogo Island Co-op has remained resilant and continues to focus on the future.