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The son of one of the men lost at sea in the Chief William Saulis tragedy is hoping the community will rally behind his quest for answers.
The scallop dragger went down in rough seas on December 15th.
RCMP announced on Saturday that they suspended the search for the five fishermen missing in the Bay of Fundy.
Kyle Gabriel, the son of Leonard Gabriel, says the investigation can’t end without knowing what happened to the vessel that morning, and whether the men are still aboard the vessel.
“I at least want answers as to if this was preventable,” he said. “We could stop further safety hazards from happening, because we’re not going to stop fishing. This is all we got where we come from. But if I can stop the next one from losing their life? Or the next one?”
The Mounties said they will now be supporting investigations by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada and the Department of Labour and Advanced Education, and will continue to provide family members with updates.
Gabriel says while RCMP may not have the resources available to raise the vessel or confirm whether the men are still in the wreckage, he’s spoken to private sector stakeholders who say that while difficult – it can be done.
“They said there’s a chance that they might not be able to come up, but there is a way we can get answers even without the boat coming up,” he said. “Why do we not have ROV’s going around? Why do we not have surveys being taken, and pictures? You give me a picture of the outside of the boat, and we don’t even know if they’re in there.”
The vessel was found a week prior, on January 16th, upright about two kilometres from Delaps Cove, submerged in more 60 metres of water.
