The fall commercial lobster fishery is underway in the Bay of Fundy in lobster fishing area (LFA) 35, with five more LFAs in southern Nova Scotia/New Brunswick opening in November.
On the New Brunswick side of the Bay of Fundy, the lobster season is scheduled to open on Nov. 12 for LFAs 36, 37 and 38. The LFA 33/34 fishery is scheduled to start Nov. 25.
Going into the LFA 35 season, the outlook was optimistic.
“I think it will be pretty good. There were a few around at the end of the season, so that’s always a good sign,” said Digby fisherman Chris Hersey, co-chair of the LFA 35 advisory committee.
“Last season it was a pretty good spring. The shed (moult) was near the end, which is what we like to see, so they should be hard shelled this fall. We saw lots of seed lobster so it’s looking good for the future,” said Hersey.
Last fall, the catch was down but the shore price was up a little bit, said Hersey, opening at $9 and increasing to $10. “The price made up for the difference.”
At the close of the LFA 35 season on July 31, the shore price was in the $8 a pound range.
Hersey said LFA 35 fishers will have two days flexibility for the opening if foul weather is forecast for opening day.
“It’s supposed to start Oct. 14 at 7:45 a.m. We go two hours before high water so everybody can go at the same time,” said Hersey.
Unlike LFAs 33 and 34, where the season is an automatic no-go if winds over 25 knots are forecast, LFA 35 fishers have to vote on it. “We can only use the protocol if it’s over 25 knots. We have to vote on it. It’s not like 34 where over 25 knots it’s an automatic shut down. Last year it gave that and we went two days early, 36 hours early,” said Hersey.
Colin Sproul, president of the Bay of Fundy Inshore Fishermen’s Association, said he thinks “our members in LFA 35 are optimistic, I know there’s no optimism by industry members on Digby Neck where a significant number of members fish.”
Adjacent to St. Mary’s Bay in LFA 34, “the past few years the bay has been completely cleaned out by the time they (Digby Neck fishermen) set their gear, so those guys are really worried about their future,” said Sproul.
Dan Fleck, executive director of the Brazil Rock Lobster Association, said his members are also concerned.
“We are very concerned and very apprehensive about what’s going to occur this year because of what DFO and the Liberal government have allowed to occur in St. Mary’s Bay. There’s been unfettered, illegal commercial lobster fishing there for 17 weeks now,” said Fleck.
Considering lobsters are migratory and move around the ocean, the impact reaches far beyond St. Mary’s Bay, said Fleck.
“It’s affecting everyone in the tri counties,” said Fleck. “If we could get DFO to enforce the laws that are there and do 10 per cent of the work they’re supposed to do in the summertime for the Food, Social and Ceremonial Fishery and the illegal fishery, we’d be more optimistic for the coming season.”
Looking back at last year in LFA 33 and 34, “last season was grim throughout the year,” said Fleck. “There were certain pockets where people had some positive signs, but a lot of people were way down and really didn’t see any uptake in the catch rates until the third week of April, first week of May.”
Last year, the season opened on Nov. 26 in LFA 33, and Dec. 2 in LFA 34 with a $10.50 shore price. The season closed with a $7 to $8 shore price.
According to the most recent statistics available from DFO, LFA 34 landings decreased from 21,212,150 kgs for the 2020/21 season, to 16,706,974 kgs for the 2022/23 season. LFA 34 fishers landed 19,586,847 kgs for the 2021/22 season.
By contrast, landings have increased slightly over the same three seasons for LFA 33 fishers. In 2020/21, 7,269,004 kgs were caught in LFA 33; 7,301,966 kgs in 2021/22 and 7,679,583 kgs in 2022/23.
As for landed value in LFA 34, for the 2022/23 season, landings came in at $334,571,004, a decrease of more than $113 million from the 2021/22 season value of $447,954,445. In 2020/21, the landed value was $400,186,818.
In LFA 33, the landed value for the 2020/21 season was $143,341,552, for 2021/22, $175,958,594 and 2022/23, $154,091,215.
No statistics were available for the 2023/24 season as of press time.
