Lobster fishermen's protest over scallop fishery far from over

By Kathy Johnson

FOR THE SOU’WESTER

NovaNewsNow.com

Protesting lobster fishermen may have given up their post by the Cape Sable Island causeway in southwestern Nova Scotia, but they have not given up the fight to stop scallop dragging on traditional lobster fishing grounds in the area.

“We’re not giving up,” said Stoney Island fisherman Kevin Ross. “We’re still fighting it but we can’t be there (at the causeway) all the time. It’s been hard on our families and we have work to do.”

Lobster fishermen began their protest in June, just after the scallop fishing area 29 fishery opened. They are concerned with potential damage to both lobster stocks and habitat from scallop dragging.

“We’ve been at meetings, on the phone or on the water,” said Cape Sable Island fishermen Michael Newell. “It’s been stressful.”

Besides lobbying the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans for improved science and changes to the SFA 29 fishery, they also conducted a test fishery in August on traditional lobster grounds fished by the scallop draggers this year.

Between 0.5 to five per cent of lobsters caught during the test fishery had shell damage. “It was fresh damage this year,” claimed Ross. “They can’t blame it on a storm.”

Although lobster technician Cheryl Frail, who accompanied the fishermen during the test fishery, couldn’t confirm exactly when the shell damage occurred – considering lobsters molt every year – she did say the damage would have been on this year’s shell, not last year’s.

Lobster fishermen are still planning to do some filming later this month with a remotely operated underwater camera on fishing grounds that were fished by the scallop fleet this season. Although they had access to the camera last month, it broke down before they could film the areas they wanted.

They are also trying to stop a scallop survey west of the 65/30 line in SFA 29, that calls for up to 90, eight-minute tows in sub areas A,B,C, and D, according to the tender document.

“Lobsters are molting right now and when they are molting they don’t move, which is why we want the survey stopped,” said Newell. “We’re not concerned about the lobsters they are going to catch in their drag. We’re concerned about the ones they’re going to run over. We’re concerned about the habitat.”

Both Ross and Newell said the fishermen are thankful for all the community support they have received over the past three months. They also said they “still could use a little more support up the line” from lobster fishermen in the Pubnico area.

“A lot of those guys fish these same waters,” said Ross. “They should be concerned too.”

(Kathy Johnson is a journalist with Transcontinental Media’s Shelburne Coast Guard, which is a contributor to the Sou’Wester.)