MONTREAL -- A Quebec tradition is currently going through a dark period. A quarter of the 200 sugar shacks in Quebec that serve traditional Quebecois meals are no longer in business and another quarter of these establishments have changed their facilities forever to produce syrup only, a new study revealed. The sugar shacks that had to close did so "at the worst time" last season, on the eve of the start of their season, when the fridges were full of cane marinades, sugar pies and a host of other traditional cooked foods. "To close a sugar season is to lose an entire year of income," explained Stephanie Laurin, author of the study and owner of Chalet des érables, a sugar shack in Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines, in the Laurentians, about 45 minutes north of Montreal.