Articles
Landings are low in Canada’s Northumberland lobster fishery
The lobster fishery in the Northumberland Strait is in deep trouble, according to fishermen from New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. “It’s really bad. We had landings this low in the 1940s,” said Rory McLellan, general manager of the Prince Edward Island Fishermen’s Association. “Personally, I’ve never seen this kind of landings, especially with the
Gray Zone dispute: no end in sight
“Speaking as John Drouin, Cutler fisherman and an individual, I have to say that I want the Canadians out of the Gray Zone. They just don’t understand the historical nature of the fishery. As a representative to the [Gray Zone] working committee, I had hopes of coming out of these meetings with a co-management plan.”
“The hour of the fisherman, the hour of the crow”
It’s no secret that retail lobster prices have been on the high side this season. But anyone unhappy about the increases should, perhaps, visit the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath where the L.L. Bean lobstering building is located. The visitor should then find his or her way to a corner of the upper floor where
PEI scientists: Current salmon vaccines aren’t working, but a cure may come soon
A team of Prince Edward Island scientists says that vaccines currently used to fight Infectious Salmon Anemia (ISA) may actually make the virus worse; that’s the bad news. The good news is that the same team at Atlantic Veterinary College, part of the University of Prince Edward Island, believes that it may be on the
“Gray Zone” lobster season gets underway with no dispute resolution
Another season of lobstering in the “Gray Zone” has begun with no resolution of the dispute between Grand Manan and Washington County fishermen. At press time, however, there were no reports of cut or vandalized gear despite tensions on both sides of the border. Both the U.S. and Canadian governments have laid claim to a
New maps could affect Canada’s fishing boundaries
The Canadian government is looking at both long-term and short-term solutions to the problem overfishing by foreign vessels on the Grand Banks and the Flemish Cap. The long-term solution is in the hands of Jacob Verhoef, Director of the Atlantic Division of the Geological Survey of Canada. He and his team are in the process
“Sea Serpent” surprises Nova Scotia lobsterman
It was a beautiful June day. Visibility was clear. His boat was in about six feet of water. And Nova Scotia lobsterman Wallace Cartwright and his sternman saw what can only be described as a “sea serpent.” “It was about 2:30 in the afternoon. I was in Point Aconi Cove on my way to haul
Newfoundland’s Crab War: “lockout” or “mob rule”?
Newfoundland-Labrador fishermen, to put it mildly, have not had a good spring. First, federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Robert Thibault closed what was left of the cod fishery. Then crab processors in the province announced that they would not buy any crab catches because the market price was too low, and the plants were
ISA virus found in Cobscook Bay salmon pen
Infectious Salmon Anemia (ISA) has once again reared its unwelcome head in Cobscook Bay. On June 12, the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) ordered the destruction of 28,000 farmed salmon in a Heritage Salmon pen located in Eastport’s Broad Cove. According to DMR Aquaculture Coordinator Andrew Fisk, the order was based on the discovery
Canada plans to protect large female lobsters – sometime
Within the space of 24 hours in May, the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans announced its plan to protect some female lobsters off the coast of Prince Edward Island – and then conceded that it didn’t have the equipment to implement it. DFO officials declined to elaborate, but Ken Campbell, communications officer for the