What would you do to save your way of life? Set in the rugged landscape of coastal Newfoundland and the spectacular ranchlands of Southern Alberta, In the Same Boat is an intimate portrait of one of Newfoundland’s last remaining inshore cod fishermen and the lessons he has to share with Alberta’s farmers.
At 66, Bill Molloy has been a proud Newfoundland fisherman his entire life. Today, nearly two decades after the 1992 cod-fishing moratorium, the once-thriving industry has not recovered.
Over 70 inshore fishermen once worked off the wharves in Bill’s hometown of St. Lawrence. Now only three remain. The sociological and economic repercussions from the collapse of the fishing industry are destroying whole communities. St. Lawrence has lost over half its population. And as Newfoundlanders leave the island in search of work in places like Alberta, Bill fears communities like his will fade away.
Meanwhile, in Alberta scientists and farmers are increasingly concerned about the damage extensive development is having on the environment. The Watmough family has ranched in southern Alberta for more than a century and now they face the same challenges as Bill Molloy, 6,000 kilometres away. Sustainability is the issue here: will the family farm, once synonymous with the Canadian West, suffer the same fate as the Atlantic fishery?
