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the dcadly.177 This section summarizes the types and causes ofconnict given in
secondary sources and will then examine the cxtCnl to which they were presenl in the
expericnccs ofJim Doyle. a man who spent seventeen summcrs on the Labrador.
One ofthe first things to be done on thc Labrador was to mark the trap
berth. Sometimes men came up early to mark the berths but usually they
waited until the whole crew arrived. Once claimed. the benh was
comparativcly safe:
I o-one else would touch that lTap berth \\;thin the harbour. E\'cryone. it
""'as a custom. a harbour rule. no one intcrfered with lour berth. The only
one that would. that could (.... hich he ncYcrdid) was a.likc a newcomer.
lie could lake a bcnh anywhere. But that's the way it was. You marked
)'our berth rou had the rear before and the next man in the harbour...he
marked his. o-one bothered anrbody... I7I
The berths wcre generally allocated on a first