Slow start to N.B. lobster fishering in LFA 25

By Joan LeBlanc

FOR THE SOU’WESTER

Fishermen in the southeastern New Brunswick portion of LFA 25 are reporting a slow start, just a few weeks into the annual lobster fishing season.

In the first two weeks, many fishermen in the Northumberland Strait area were reporting lower catches than those of this time last year.

Bernie Briggs, president of the Botsford Professional Fishermen’s Association in Murray Corner, N.B. said given the modest increase in landings early in the 2007 season, prior to the start of this year’s season fishermen were hopeful catches would be even better.

“It’s slow, very slow. The price is down and the catches are poor; that just about sums it up. We’re only two weeks into it but the start for everybody has been down from last year,” he said, adding that the high cost of fuel is also cutting heavily into profits.

Fishermen have also been frustrated about what they’re getting paid for lobster so far this year. Briggs noted it’s about 50 cents per pound less than that of last year when market lobsters sold for around $5 and canners for about $4.50 per pound. On a more positive note, lobster meat quality is good this year, he said.

The fishing season in LFA 25 began on Saturday, Aug. 9 when fishermen set their traps in various locations in the Northumberland Strait. Regulations state the traps may be fished beginning at 6 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 11, however Briggs noted that the about 60 fishermen based out of the four local wharves – including Cape Tormentine, Murray Corner, Amos Point and Port Elgin – did not begin to fish until Monday, Aug. 12.

“In this area we have a gentleman’s agreement that no one will fish on Sunday and everyone abides by that agreement. I know most of them fish in areas north of us, but we don’t start until Monday,” he explained.

The final day of the season is Oct. 10.

Briggs said that with the better catches realized early in the 2007 fishing season, local fisherman had begun to hope that this year would be even better. But that hasn’t proven to be the case so far.

“We’re still seeing some good signs that there’s lobster in the strait, we’re seeing lots of little ones on the bottom,” he said, noting that there is still a lot of siltation around the piers of the Confederation Bridge that will take time to disperse.

“It’s going to take a lot of years for that to right itself,” he said.

Lobster fishing regulations remained the same for 2008 as that of last year, he noted, including equipment and lobster size.

“There’s a specific measure for female lobster and any females over that size have to be put back in the water. They say that’s going to help increase the number of lobsters, but I’m not sure if that really works,” he said.

In other areas where the lobster fishery has remained constant or has shown to have improved, another tactic has been implemented.

“They raised the measure; they went to a market (sized lobster) fishery only. They throw all of the juveniles back instead of landing all of these canner lobsters like we do here,” he said, adding that’s been a controversial issue with most area fishermen.

Local resistance to a market-only lobster fishery was part of the reason the fishing of juvenile lobsters is permitted in some areas of LFA 25.

“I don’t know whether it’s the right or wrong thing to do, but that’s what we do here,” Briggs said.

(Joan LeBlanc is a freelance journalist who resides in New Brunswick, and is a contributor to the Sou’Wester.)