Anxiety building as uncertain lobster season approaches

By Tina Comeau

THE VANGUARD

NovaNewsNow.com

With lobster prices plunging, credit evaporating, and surf and turf in U.S. restaurants threatening to go the way of turf only, nervousness and uncertainty continues as the opening of the season fast approaches.

To go or not to go on the last Monday of November – which is the traditional start to the commercial season – has been a dilemma bouncing back and forth for months, since this year the last Monday of the month falls on Nov. 24.

On Sunday, Nov. 16 an emergency meeting, attended by hundreds of fishermen, was called for fishermen from lobster fishing areas 33 and 34 (Yarmouth County falls in LFA 34) to discuss possibly delaying the upcoming fishery.

What has fishermen concerned, among other things, is the price lobsters have been fetching in other areas whose seasons are underway. It’s common to hear reports of prices of $4 a pound, $3 a pound or lower. The prediction is the price in southwestern N.S. will be around $3.50 or lower when the season opens, which is where it’s been in the lobster fishery that recently opened in Grand Manan.

Sunday’s meeting, however, failed to reach any consensus so, for now, fishermen will stick to the Nov. 24 opening, which gives them about extra week of fishing this season. But the talks aren't over yet.

For those who wanted the season delayed, they’re concerned the glut of more lobsters coming ashore will keep the price low or drive it down further.

But fishermen who fish their traps close to shore are concerned that delaying the season will see lobsters crawl further offshore because of dropping water temperature, which will affect their overall catch and shorten their season.

There is talk that fishermen hope to meet with buyers prior to the opening of the season to discuss the price issue.

In an environment where lobster is considered a luxury meal, the economic turmoil is painting a scenario of potential gloom and doom for those who fish the crustacean. The publication Seafood.com reported a few days ago that in Maine the October lobster values were under $20 million, representing a decline of 66 per cent from their 2005 peak.

The Maine Lobster Association is also worried about a glut of Canadian lobster entering the marketplace. “We don’t need any more lobsters here and it’s not like we’re having a bonanza catch,” Bill Adler, executive director of the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association told the Shelburne Coast Guard, a sister publication to the Vanguard.

Aside from weakened consumer demand, another concern is the credit crunch. Lines of credit have been cut to many lobster processors and there are some estimates that there may be $50 to $100 million less in available credit to purchase lobsters.

Yet despite all of the unease, there still will be lobster a season, and so planning is underway to prepare for when it opens.

The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax says the fishery opening off of southwestern Nova Scotia is the largest in the province, and the most risky, which is why it will be devoting many resources during the first two opening days of the fishery.

The commercial season in lobster fishing areas (LFAs) 33 and 34 covers an area stretching from Burns Point, Digby County to Cole Harbour, Halifax County – encompassing Yarmouth, Shelburne, Queens and Lunenburg counties in between. There are approximately 1,700 licence holders and each boat will have crews of three, four or more people when they head out to dump their pots. On opening day – historically referred to as dumping day – vessels stacked with lobster traps, rope, buoys, balloons and other gear will be dumping their traps at sea.

Some of the larger boats will do it in one trip, loading all 375 traps in one shot. Others will make two or three trips.

It’s because of these heavy trap loads that safety becomes a critical concern, notes Barry Smith of the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre. He says overall the plan doesn’t change much from year to year, nor do the cautions given to fishermen: monitor the weather, check your safety gear as closely as you check your lobster gear, have a registered EPIRB (emergency position indicating readio beacon) on your boat and if you’re in trouble it’s better to rely on your radio than your cell phone to call for help because this way other nearby boats are aware of what is happening.

However, as much as lobster fishermen are encouraged to be responsible for their safety, officials know the unexpected can happen –mechanical breakdowns, sunken vessels – so an arsenal of vessels and aircraft will be deployed or on standby. Among the vessels being used in the region will be the Coast Guard vessels Edward Cornwallis and Earl Grey, the Coast Guard cutters Westport and Sambro, a Cormorant helicopter and a Hercules aircraft. There will also be various DFO vessels on the water. While their primary mandate is enforcement Smith says, “We can use them to respond to a distress if we need them.”

On dumping day vessels in LFA 34 are allowed to leave their wharfs at 6 a.m. and in LFA 33 they’re permitted to leave at 7 a.m.