Strait working group finishing up its work on lobster industry report

By Andy Walker

Sou’Wester



Ottawa and the three Maritime provinces should have the final reports form the Northumberland Strait Working group by the end of the month.

The joint industry/government group was established in 2006 to look into ways to ensure the long-term viability of the lobster industry in the Northumberland Strait. Catches had been falling steadily in the fall lobster fishery on P.E.I. for almost a decade. As well, there has been a major decrease in landings in the spring lobster fishery on the south shore of the province stretching for Victoria to North Cape, over the last several seasons.

There has been some improvement in landings over the past couple of seasons, but they are still well below average. The P.E.I. Fishermen’s Association has been using money from managing the Island’s snow crab fishery to buy back some licences in the fall fishery. While that clearly has helped, the numbers have been small and now a court decision puts that funding source in doubt.

The provincial government has instituted a low interest loan program and the previous provincial Conservative government held what was called a "lobster summit" bringing together not only the federal minister but industry and government officials from all three maritime provinces. Area 25, which encompasses the fall lobster fishery, also includes parts of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia and fishermen in those provinces have experience declines similar to their Island counterparts.

As a result of that meeting, the Northumberland Strait Working Group was established. They held public meetings and established three subgroups – environment, ecology and economic diversity. All of those groups are now in the final stages of finishing up their work.

While he couldn’t go into details, the executive director of the P.E.I. Fishermen Association said the reports will include detailed recommendations accompanied by a price tag and projected work plan.

Ed Frenette explained, "We are talking a significant amount of dollars here – it will take a great deal political will."

Both the fishermen’s association and provincial governments of both political stripes have been urging Ottawa to institute a licence retirement or buyback plan. Frenette said there is an almost universal feeling that in order to keep the fishery viable, the number of boats in the water has to be reduced.

The federal government doesn’t argue with that logic. It argues, however, that industry should be footing the bill rather than the Canadian taxpayer. Frenette said that is simply not a viable economic option.

The executive director said the committee has tried to think outside the box to develop some recommendations they hope will achieve a reduction in the number of fishermen without a formal buyback plan. He added, "It certainly remains to be seen whether Ottawa will sign on."