Dredging woes: Lobster fishermen hitting bottom

By Jim Brown

FOR THE SOUWESTER

Only days after several vessels in Malpeque Harbour, P.E.I. were hung up in shallow waters, another dozen lobster fishers faced a similar fate early Monday afternoon, May 5.

They had to wait up to three hours getting back into the harbour because of treacherous tides and low water.

"It's not a good situation. It's getting worse every year," said Dale Baglole, who's fished out of Malpeque since 1985.

"You've got to try to get back into the harbour ahead of the tide. You can't do your work right. This is the worst."

Though the tide eventually changed, Baglole's boat was still banging on bottom as it made its way in.

"We were in a bad spot on the bar and we dragged all the way in."

Baglole said dredging should have begun up to two weeks ago - long before the season's start on May 1.

Miserable weather was at least partially to blame for the late start.

Instead, dredging began May 5, but the equipment had to be moved to allow boats back into the harbour. There was a just a small hole for lobster boats to return to the harbour.

"It screws up the entire day," said Baglole, adding there is also considerable wear and tear on vessels.

Another fisherman, George Mallett, says being stranded for so long can threaten lobster catches.

"You're out there hoping the lobsters don't die," he said.

Mallett, who left the wharf at 4:30 a.m., says he should have been able to tie up at 12:30 p.m. He said the dredging simply wasn't adequate. The first dredge was supposed to be 15 metres or 50 feet, when it should have been 100 feet, said Mallett.

And by the end of the afternoon, 15 feet was cut, barely enough for a vessel to get through he said.

Another lobster fisherman, Ronnie Bigelow, says it's a race against time trying to get vessels back into the harbour before the tide changes and boats are stranded.

Propellers churning through sandy water can send silt into engines causing mechanical problems, he said, a cost many lobster fisherman can ill afford.

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