"These large scale farmers usually hold title to at least a part of the land they cultivate but are locked into the larger capitalist econo¬ my upon which they are dependent for the processing and sale of the commodities they produce." The Past To The Future: Rethinking Rural Society and Social Change. Enrol Sharpe, 1991, p. 33 returns and high inputs curtailed the opportunities of young people to enter the field of agriculture. Corporate farming con¬ tinued to push aside the small family farm unit. The land question for Lot 16 has resurfaced due to the community's proximity to an urban cen¬ tre and the financial pressure exerted in the bid for land for housing development. Fishing The waters of and Ellis River were fertile fishing grounds which provided the daily food for many settlers. Shellfish gathered from the shoreline carried many early settlement families through the bitter months of winter. The early fish¬ ery consisted of lobster, herring, mackerel, cod, oysters, smelts, and eels. In the early days, lobster was so plentiful that it could be collected from the shore following a storm. People would sneak down to the shore to gather them in burlap bags so that no one would see they were poor enough to have to eat lobster. Through time, canned lobster became the base for a lucrative export market and a number of canning factories dotted the Lot 16 shorelines. By the 1890s, lobster and oyster fishing were the two money¬ makers in the industry. The last lobster factory remained open until the late 1940s when the raw product was trucked to larger factories. The Malpeque oyster became world famous and one of the men to cultivate it was Southwest farmer James G. (Mac) MacLean. He employed a number of men and became president of the Prince Edward Island Oyster Growers Association. He also operated a mussel canning factory. Early settlers usually farmed and fished in order to survive although there seemed to be some stigma attached to fishing as indicated in a letter of 1871 written by census taker John MacKinnon . Sir;-In the census returns of Lot 16 , you say there are 'four boats owned for fishing purposes,' while the number of men is not noted in the census book. The reason is, the boats were owned by United Church and Its People