The wife and mother of Isaac Kettle are mourning, but they are also questioning the actions of the government after the search for their loved one was called off.
Audriette Kettle, Isaac’s mother, says her son was a hard worker, was good to everyone, and loved his family. She says she never imagined a tragedy like this, but it reminds her of a similar tragedy from 25 years ago.
Kerri-Lynn Kettle, his wife, says this is not the first time her family has gone through this.
(Image shared with fundraiser for the families of the crew of the Sarah Anne.)
Her uncle was one of three St. Lawrence men aboard the longliner, the Jessie Marie, when it went down in October of 1995. His body was never found.
She says she does not want the same thing to happen again.
Kerri-Lynn says she has seen the news about the Canadian military locating wreckage of the helicopter and remains of their members who were lost in the Mediterranean last month. She says it should be no different for a fisherman in the Atlantic.
Audriette says even though it is hard, it is worse that the search has been cut off after just 48 hours. She says they know he won’t be alive at this point, but they still need him.
“Blanket of Sadness” Over Industry in Wake of Tragedy, says Fish Harvesting Safety Association
(Courtesy Lisa Loder.)
Meanwhile, the tragedy earlier this week has left the fish harvesters in the province searching for answers.
Brenda Greenslade is the Executive Director of the Newfoundland and Labrador Fish Harvesting Safety Association.
She says local fish harvesters have been “consumed” by the incident since hearing about it and calls the situation “gut-wrenching.”
“It has cast a blanket of sadness…over the entire industry,” she says.
The Transportation Safety Board says it is gathering information to determine its next course of action.
However, Greenslade says that an investigation will be a difficult task as there is no one to talk to that can testify to what happened. She says a tragedy is senseless unless we can learn from it. She is hopeful that we can find answers.
Greenslade notes harvesters have lots of questions, such as the reason a mayday signal wasn’t sent out. They hypothesize something very sudden must have happened. She says this is the worst way to learn a lesson, but we must learn from what happened.
Search Called Off Too Early, says Official Opposition
The official opposition is calling on the federal government to use tools at its disposal to locate the missing fishing vessel that went down off the coast of St. Lawrence this week.
PC leader Ches Crosbie says the search was called off too early and will not bring closure to family and loved ones.
Crosbie says the federal government, Transport Canada and the Transportation Safety Board need to begin investigations into what happened immediately.
