1974 Fredericton Convocation
Matthews, Medford Elwood
Doctor of Science (D.Sc.)
Orator: Condon, Thomas J.
Image
Image Caption
L to R: Sir Max Aitken, Medford Elwood Matthews
Second Image Caption
Source: Joe Stone fonds-UA RG340, 1974 (#11528A)
Citation:
CONVOCATION, OCTOBER, 1974
MEDFORD ELWOOD MATTHEWS
to be Doctor of Science
Ministers of fisheries and fish scientists we have honoured many times in the past but today we have a first: the fisherman himself. Without him there would be no fisheries to minister, no compelling need for fisheries research, perhaps even no multitude gathered here to witness our ceremonies, so vital has fishing been to the economy and the way of life of this province. The dream of an Arcadia in New Brunswick, whether by Acadian or Loyalist, was inspired in large part by the abundance of fish, from the humble cod and herring to the majestic salmon and lobster.
Captain Medford Matthews of Wilson’s Beach, Campobello is an outstanding representative of that remarkable breed of men who go down to the sea with ships and nets and lines, who battle the forces of nature in all their variety and intensity, and who return exhausted with their exquisite delicacies from the deep. Theirs is a hard and dangerous life at sea and, in view of market fluctuations and unpredictable demand, and uncertain one on land. While fishing is certainly among man’s oldest occupations yet it must also remain among his newest. And woe the fisherman who rests on his oars or relies on the techniques and methods of the previous generation.
From the time he went to sea at the age of fifteen, Captain Matthews has been incessant in his search for newer and better ways of fishing. With his father, he introduced the purse seining technique for herring in the Bay of Fundy in 1930. His early pioneering efforts in locating schools of fish, with cotton threads and piano wires to determine their depth and number, were followed by the development of more sophisticated electronic depth recorders which revolutionized the East coast fishing industry. A designer of magnificent ships and an electronics wizard as well, he pursues herring from the Bay of Fundy to Newfoundland and tuna down the coast of the United States.
We honour today an islander New Brunswicker, a man who possesses that requisite combination for a good fisherman in any age: great knowledge and great commonsense.
Praeses admittit Medford Elwood Matthews honoris causa ad gradum Doctoris in Scientia.
From: Honoris Causa - UA Case 70, Box 2
MEDFORD ELWOOD MATTHEWS
to be Doctor of Science
Ministers of fisheries and fish scientists we have honoured many times in the past but today we have a first: the fisherman himself. Without him there would be no fisheries to minister, no compelling need for fisheries research, perhaps even no multitude gathered here to witness our ceremonies, so vital has fishing been to the economy and the way of life of this province. The dream of an Arcadia in New Brunswick, whether by Acadian or Loyalist, was inspired in large part by the abundance of fish, from the humble cod and herring to the majestic salmon and lobster.
Captain Medford Matthews of Wilson’s Beach, Campobello is an outstanding representative of that remarkable breed of men who go down to the sea with ships and nets and lines, who battle the forces of nature in all their variety and intensity, and who return exhausted with their exquisite delicacies from the deep. Theirs is a hard and dangerous life at sea and, in view of market fluctuations and unpredictable demand, and uncertain one on land. While fishing is certainly among man’s oldest occupations yet it must also remain among his newest. And woe the fisherman who rests on his oars or relies on the techniques and methods of the previous generation.
From the time he went to sea at the age of fifteen, Captain Matthews has been incessant in his search for newer and better ways of fishing. With his father, he introduced the purse seining technique for herring in the Bay of Fundy in 1930. His early pioneering efforts in locating schools of fish, with cotton threads and piano wires to determine their depth and number, were followed by the development of more sophisticated electronic depth recorders which revolutionized the East coast fishing industry. A designer of magnificent ships and an electronics wizard as well, he pursues herring from the Bay of Fundy to Newfoundland and tuna down the coast of the United States.
We honour today an islander New Brunswicker, a man who possesses that requisite combination for a good fisherman in any age: great knowledge and great commonsense.
Praeses admittit Medford Elwood Matthews honoris causa ad gradum Doctoris in Scientia.
From: Honoris Causa - UA Case 70, Box 2
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