The Turning the Tide marine industry awards night, delayed since April 2020, is now less than a week away, with about 500 people set to gather at the St. John’s Convention Centre.

“We’re finding people are truly excited about having a face-to-face, real, live awards gala. We’re sold out,” said Turning the Tide chair Paul Antle, also president and CEO of Pluto Investments.

He said organizers are following any and all directions from Chief Medical Officer of Health Janice Fitzgerald and would “trim the numbers” or call off the event altogether if there was a flare-up from a COVID-19 variant, or it was otherwise deemed necessary for the protection of public health between now and Thursday.

In the meantime, people in Newfoundland and Labrador have been going to restaurants, concerts, traveling a bit more and the feeling of organizers is the industry event can finally proceed safely.

“The people who attend don’t want to be part of any cluster, so everybody is still taking ample precautions and so is the organization,” Antle said, noting there will be masks available for every attendee and hand sanitizer. The tickets were capped at 500, for an event space able to seat 1,500, Antle noted.

The Turning the Tide awards were started in 2017 and are unusual in that they gather together professionals from across the marine sector in Newfoundland and Labrador, including commercial shipping, aquaculture, fish processing, offshore service companies, port operations and more. Anyone can submit a nomination for the professional awards through the online submission page. An 11-person committee then whittles down to the ultimate honourees.

There are five awards being handed out at the coming event, all unique in their own way, with very specific criteria. A feature of Turning the Tide is award winners are announced prior to the event, giving it less a feel of competition on the night.

 

 

The honourees for 2021 are:

• Industry Leadership and Excellence Award — A. Harvey & Company, being accepted by A. Harvey Group of Companies board chair Susan Patten

• Industry Lifetime Achievement Award — Bruce Wareham, Icewater Seafoods (awarded posthumously)

• Innovation Leadership Award — Genoa Design, being accepted by CEO Gina Pecore

• Award of Historical Marine Significance — International Grenfell Association’s Mission Medical Vessels,being accepted by Ruth Bell Steinhauer

• Next Wave Leadership Award — Melissa Williams, St. John’s Port Authority’s manager of marine operations and harbour master

Turning the Tide’s Lifetime Achievement Award has previously gone to Quinlan Brothers seafoods co-founder Pat Quinlan (2017), Penney Group of Companies founder Ches Penney (2018) and Fraser Edison, president of Rutter Inc. (2019). Edison was the first not to receive the award posthumously. The latest honouree, Bruce Wareham, chair of the Icewater Group of Companies , passed away in January 2019 at age 75.

”His career in the seafood industry spanned 55 years, and his hallmark hard work and tenacity were the driving force behind the successful building and operation of a state of the art groundfish processing facility in Arnold’s Cove that has earned a worldwide reputation for quality. A respected and long-serving member of the Canadian Centre for Fisheries Innovation and the National Seafood Sector Council, his soft-spoken wisdom and commitment to helping the industry achieve stability and sustainability was second to none. Steadfastly loyal, Bruce always looked to guarantee the future of the people of the town of Arnold’s Cove,” stated the announcement of award winners, back at the start of 2020.

Antle said there are detailed stories behind each of the selected honourees and significance for the region in their achievements.

“The grouping that we have I think is phenomenal,” he said.

 

Updated September 13, 2021