Arn? Narn.

Arn? Narn. is the shortest conversation in Newfoundland English. Yes, that is a thing. Briefly, it is between two fishing boat captains. One is departing the bay, the other is returning. The departing ship’s captain yells out, “Arn?” (meaning any fish?) The returning ship’s captain responds, “Narn.” (No fish.) That is the story of the book Arn? Narn.

For over five-hundred years, Newfoundland supported itself with cod fishing. In 1992, the cod stocks were at such a perilous level, the government enacted a ten year moratorium on cod fishing. Immediately, forty-thousand people lost their jobs. In the first five years of the moratorium, over twenty percent of the population left the island. When the fish stocks were revisited in 2002, it was found they were in worse shape than previously. The moratorium was left in place.

Arn? Narn. is a photographic essay portraying a vanishing rural culture. Since it’s publication in 2012, Newfoundland had rebounded for a while due to an an off-shore oil boom that has since declined. The people remained and there is anecdotal evidence the cod are returning, but not to the previous levels. Were the cod to return to a sustainable level, the dilemma exists that there is no infrastructure in place to accommodate the catch.