Red Cliff Tribal Commercial Fishermen Donate
1,000 Pounds Of Fish To Community
Bryan Bainbridge, owner of Bainbridge Fisheries
and the fish tug Ava June, teamed up with
Donald Livingston, owner of Livingston Fisheries
and the fish tug RVH, to donate their harvest of
fresh fish to the Red Cliff community last week.
On April 16, Bainbridge and Livingston lifted
their nets and found a great harvest to bring
back to Red Cliff. They were able to donate
nearly 1,000 pounds of fresh fish.
"Both Donny and I felt better on this day than
when we bring in our largest catches to the
market," said Bainbridge. "It was a day to be
proud to be able to do this for Red Cliff."
The idea originated over a year ago, when
Bainbridge mentioned to Livingston the
opportunity to set up a community-wide fishing
day. The intent was to get all that wanted to be
involved in the process of the harvest--from setting the nets, filleting, packaging, and
distributing the fish throughout the community.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic forced Bainbridge and Livingston to adjust their plan and
abide by public health directives, which eliminated the large gathering aspect of community
participation.
"Our Commercial Fishery is pretty much shut down and as fishermen we have no income, along
with the people we employ," said Bainbridge. "But we weren't going to let it stop us from
providing to our community."
Bainbridge said they listened to the people in the community with worry and uncertainty of
whether they will be working because everything is shut down and being cancelled.
"We were fortunate to have some volunteers help us throughout this whole process and would
like to say Chii Miigwech to Hunter, Chad, Justin, Hillary, Jason, Logan, Becky, Cole, Edwina,
Nathan, Nicky, and Joe with is son," said Bainbridge.
Bainbridge emphasized that this is a way to honor the community, elders, and all that paved the
way so they can take their boats out, set nets, and provide for their families and community.
"This won't be the last time we do this, and we hope to have full community participation once
we can gather safely," said Bainbridge.