Asturian-American Migration Forum

I am curious if there was any Asturian migration to Canada, especially Cape Breton. The Basque people figured prominently in the early fishing industry of what is now Atlantic Canada. There is a "Spanish Bay". In Cape Breton , besides fishing the other dominant industry was mining. Mostly coal mining (I don't know of any zinc mining).

hi Lisa, Not that I can base my reply on anything other than anecdotal evidence, but Cape Breton was beyond the usual route that Asturian and Galician immigrants took in North America. However, there are plenty of northern Portuguese immigrants in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.

I've seen plenty of signs of Basque influence in Newfoundland & Labrador, as well as further south along the St. Lawrence River, linked to cod fishing and whaling. I once stopped at the Parc de l'Aventure Basque en Amerique on a road trip to the Gaspe Peninsula. That was quite a shocker as the place flew Basque flags in middle of Quebec province.

That's a very interesting question, Lisa.

My sense is that Asturians have usually blended into the dominant culture, so that within a couple of generations, few would remember that they were different.

I've not heard of many Asturians or Galicians in Canada, but it wouldn't surprise me.

There do appear to be Cape Breton zinc mines, but it would be more likely that Asturians would have immigrated to work in zinc smelting factories. Were there Cape Breton zinc smelters in the early 1900s?

Maybe one of our members or visitors will know more.

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Es una pregunta muy interesante, Lisa.

Me da la impresión de que los asturianos tienden a mezclar en la cultura dominante, de modo que en un par de generaciones, pocos recuerdan que eran diferentes.

No he oído hablar de muchos asturianos y gallegos en Canadá, pero no me sorprendería.

Parece que hay minas de zinc en Cabo Bretón, pero sería más probable que los asturianos emigraría para trabajar en las fábricas de fundición de zinc. ¿Hubo Cabo Bretón fundiciones de zinc al principios de los 1900?

Tal vez uno de nuestros miembros o visitantes sepa más.

Thanks Art and Is
The next time I am in Halifax I will go to Pier 21 the Canadian Immigrant Museum and ask. They have a vast resource of information there about all the early settlers in Canada.

Great! Let us know if you learn anything!

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¡Fantástico! ¡Dinos si aprendes algo!

I can be mistaken, but what i heard about the Basque presence in Canada is related with the whalers and the Cod fishers most recently, that used to fish in the newfounland banks. In Asturias fishing industry was different, i think that basques and galicians were more open to go overseas looking for new fisheries (they still have the most important fishing fleets in europe) while in Asturias they use to stay in the Biscay Bay and proximities, being the white tunna variety found here one of the most appreciated fishes in Asturias when talking about deep sea fishing, together with the hake fished in the Gran Sole bank (west of Ireland). This two banks have been the most usual fishing spots for the asturian deep sea fleet, and still are.

I hope that i was able to make this understandable enough and this can clarify a little bit more your question. Is difficult to express some of the concepts because of my lack of fishing vocabulary (i used to work in merchant vessels).

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Puedo estar equivocado, pero por lo que tengo entendido acerca de la presencia Vasca en Canada esta está relacionada con los balleneros y mas recientemente bacaladeros que faenaban en los bancos de Terranova. En Asturias la indutria pesquera fue diferente, creo que los vascos y gallegos siempre estuvieron mas dispuestos a buscar caladeros mas lejanos (aun tienen las flotas pesqueras mas importantes de Europa) mientras que los asturianos suelen permanecer en la zona del Cantabrico y cercanias, encontrando aqui el bonito del norte, una de las especies mas apreciadas aqui al hablar de pesca de altura, junto con la merluza que se encuentra en el gran sol (al oeste de Irlanda). Estos dos caladeros fueron los mas habituales para la pesca de altura en Asturias y aun lo son.

Espero haber sido capaz de haber conseguido hacerme entender y haber aclarado un poco el tema. Me resulta un poco complicado redactar estos conceptos en ingles por mi falta de vocabulario tecnico pesquero (yo solia trabajar en buques mercantes)