Rough start to season for Malpeque, P.E.I. crews

By Jim Brown

FOR THE SOU’WESTER

MALPEQUE, P.E.I. – Thursday, the opening of the spring lobster season, was a day George Mallett would like to forget.

“We’re lucky somebody wasn’t drowned,” said Mallett, who has been fishing lobster out of the Malpeque wharf for 30 years.

His boat and several others had a difficult time navigating through shallow water and narrow channels.

“This was one of the poorest starts I’ve ever seen,” said Mallett.

But at least his vessel wasn’t damaged too extensively – for now.

The same couldn’t be said for other vessels, including one that was stuck on a bar and had to be towed off by dories and a mussel boat.

Another lobster fisherman, Chris Wall, said many lobster boats traveled much lighter to get out of the harbour safely, but it was still a close scrape.

Wall estimates the lobster vessel and its crew trapped on a sandbar were there for two to three hours.

“I heard he lost his power steering,” said Wall, who traveled with 25 fewer traps on his first trip.“I’ve fished for 14 years, it was one of the most miserable days ever.”

Wall and Mallett said silt deposition was a major problem with the harbour, causing many vessels, filled with lobster gear, to bang against the bottom.

They also said although dredging equipment was in place, the harbour still wasn’t dredged in time for the season’s start. It was just too risky for operators to try in this weather said Wall.

At the same time, he argued the dredging should have been done much earlier rather than waiting until the season’s start.

“They left it to the last minute,” said Wall.

The toll taken on vessels may not be immediately apparent but constant wear and tear on propellers, hulls and engines could lead to expensive repair bills over the course of the season, said Mallet.

Mallett went on to say churned up sand gets into seawater taken into engines to cool them.

He feels the DFO should have delayed the season’s start another day.

The weather was actually worse Thursday than the day before, when setting day was deferred. Wall said with rain and winds, it probably wasn’t the best idea to leave in the dark at 6 a.m. The start time should be moved to first light, at about 7 a.m., in the future, he suggested.



(Jim Brown is a journalist with Transcontinental Media’s Journal Pioneer and a contributor to the Sou’Wester.)