Catherine Beaudette

Cribbing 2015 - 2019

Watercolour on paper

In Newfoundland, cribbing is a frame or crib of logs, secured under water to form a support for a fish stage or store.  The construction of cribbing involves practical knowledge about the natural elements.  From the harvest of selected lumber to the installation of the “pile junks”, it is a lengthy and methodic process that can provide insight on how to work with the forces of the tides, winds, waves and ice.

Newfoundland fishery terms:

Ballast bed: a framework of heavy logs or beams, filled with rocks, forming the crib of a wharf

Ballast: rocks that hold the crib in place

Pile junks: siding to protect the crib from sea ice intrusion that might break apart the framework