We are ten distinct cultural communities combined to make a single economic community. Our fishers, both men and women, all live on Fogo Island, as do all the workers at Fogo Island Fishing Cooperative’s processing plants, stationed in several small communities around the island.

The Fogo Island Co-operative Society was formed in response to the 1960s collapse of the cod fishery in Newfoundland, and talk of forced resettlement for the people of Fogo Island to urban centres on the mainland. The fishery diversified from cod fishing to include species such as pink shrimp, snow crab, squid and turbot, allowing cod stocks to slowly recover. It is internationally renowned for its community-owned model and the exceptional quality of its catch.

Today, Fogo Island’s population stands just above 2,000, half the size it was fifty years ago. Our mission is to help rebuild the connection between our foodways and our communities, while revitalizing the local economy and continuing a proud legacy of fishing.