Matane is the riding’s largest commercial centre and has developed a surprisingly varied economy: pork and seafood processing, pulp and paper, concrete piping, shipbuilding, and wind farms. Les Fruits de mer de l’Est du Quebec is the second-largest seafood processing plant in the Gaspé-Lower St. Lawrence region. When in season, “les petites crevettes de Matane”, the area’s tiny, tender cold-water shrimp, are a beloved staple of Quebec cuisine.
In 2002 the Quebec government called for seven wind farms to be built on the Gaspé peninsula to help with the region’s economy and to reach emissions targets.