Decisions already made on fall start of LFA 34 lobster fishery

By Tina Comeau

SOU'WESTER

NovaNewsNow.com

The start of the next commercial lobster fishery in southwestern Nova Scotia may still be five months away, but some decisions regarding its start have already been made.

At the spring meeting of the Lobster Fishing Area (LFA) 34 Advisory Committee, the decision was made to open the season on Nov. 24, which will give fishermen a full week of fishing the last week in November.

While the last Monday of November is traditionally the start date for the fishery, there was talk of whether the season should be delayed by one week to open on Dec. 1.

Part of the reason for the discussion was a delay would help manage the rate of landings at the start of the season, when the market typically experiences a glut in catches that can impact prices. While some port reps favoured the Dec. 1 opening, the majority opted for the Nov. 24 start.

DFO area chief Ian Marshall said with a conclusion reached, it will be one less decision that will need to be made about the season later on.

“So we will have no discussion in September or November on what to do,” he said.

The LFA 34 committee also decided there should be something in writing that formalizes the decision of whether the season actually starts on the chosen opening date, given that the weather can have a factor on this.

Normally the call of whether or not to go on opening day, or whether to delay the start time, is a decision reached by a majority consensus via a conference call with the port reps and DFO based on a review of the forecasted weather. Sometimes more than one conference call is needed to reach a conclusion.

A written protocol would still spell out the requirement for a conference call, but it likely would also set out wind conditions that would automatically postpone the start of the season.

This past season the start of the commercial lobster fishery in LFA 34 was postponed four days due to high winds. The decision was based on safety.

The LFA 34 port reps have been asked to talk with fishermen to get their views of what should be included in an opening day protocol.