After 10 days of fishing in lobster fishing area (LFA) 25, located between New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, fisheries advisors are calling the 2024 season “one we’d like to forget.”
In the early stages of the LFA 25 season, which runs from August 7 to October 8, Maritime Fishermen’s Union Fisheries Advisor Luc LeBlanc said harvesters are experiencing catch rates that have fallen way below average for this time of year.
“So far, it’s a season we’d like to forget. Landings are way down at this point — 30–40 per cent. It’s way off,” said LeBlanc. “It’s still early, but the theory is that the water is really, really warm and we’re probably dealing with a later moult than we’re usually dealing with. Lobster tends to be inactive when it’s moulting, so fishing is pretty bad. The water in the Northumberland Strait is at historic temperatures. It’s very, very hot. So, once the water cools down, the hope is that the lobsters will be a little more active.”
The water temperature in the Northumberland Strait, according to LeBlanc, has been trending upwards in recent years. This trend has been noted throughout Atlantic Canada, including the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) in their report, Canada’s Oceans Now: Atlantic Ecosystems, 2022.
“Overall, warmer air temperatures have caused warmer sea surface waters, less sea ice cover, and warmer bottom waters in some areas,” said the report. “Although surface water temperatures are highly variable from year to year in the Atlantic bioregions, they have been gradually warming in the long term.”
Considering these rising temperatures, LeBlanc called LFA 25’s August and September fishing window “problematic,” with some harvesters calling for a later start to the season to allow lobsters to end their moult. However, he also noted that shifting the dates of their fishery could adversely affect market prices for lobster, as it would intersect with lobster seasons in other LFAs.
“July is not option for resource reasons — it’s officially the moulting season. One of our questions is, is that moulting season moving later? The idea has been floated around the past couple of years; it’s just difficult to see, market-wise, how we would do it,” said LeBlanc. “If we move our season to a month where somebody else is already fishing, are we going to flood that market? That’s kind of that catch-22. We haven’t made a move yet, and it’s just informal discussions. But fishermen are definitely talking about it, for sure.”
Despite the low catch rates in the Northumberland Strait, the markets have held steady, with lobsters selling for $8.50 per pound due to the short supply of fresh lobster during the LFA 25 season.
Another problem facing LFA 25 fish harvesters, on top of warming waters, is the rising incidence of storms in the area. With more frequent storms that are becoming more intense over time, LeBlanc said harvesters have expressed concern about losing fishing days to inclement weather.
“One of the questions on fishermen’s minds right now is, are we going to have storms that are going to prevent us from fishing and actually catching up in catches and landings?” said LeBlanc. “It’s always markets, resource and weather. Markets and resource are doing fine, we think; it’s the weather that’s going to be the big question mark.”
