By the 20th century, Bay Roberts was regarded as a wholesale and distribution centre for Conception Bay and Trinity Bay, and major businesses included cooperage (barrel making) and shipbuilding. William Dawe was the best-known cooper, having produced 7800 butter tubs in one year. J. Bowering was a renowned shipbuilder, who produced 50 ships a year for merchants and the Hudson's Bay Company for use in the fishing and sealing industries. However, the economy depended to a large extent on the fishing industry, as merchants owned between 60 and 70 ships which were used by the local fishermen.