Weather permitting, Canada’s largest commercial lobster fishery will open on Nov. 24 this year in southwestern Nova Scotia.
Lobster fishing areas (LFA) 33 and 34 extend from Eastern Passage in Halifax County to Burns Point, Digby County, with Baccaro Point in Shelburne County the dividing line. There are a total of 1,656 licence holders in the two fishing districts: 678 in LFA 33 and 978 in LFA 34.
In advance of the season, Fish Safe NS was busy conducting man overboard drills throughout the region, which they now offer free to all fishing vessels in Nova Scotia.
“The drills cover the five mandatory drills that Transport Canada Marine requires all fishing vessels to know, perform and document; man overboard, medical, fire, flooding and abandon ship,” explained Gary Hunt, safety coordinator for Fish Safe NS.
While the drills must be completed by the captain and the crew, Fish Safe NS walks through each drill with the captain and crew, with hands-on instruction for each drill specific to the vessel they work on, said Hunt.
The safety of mariners and the protection of the marine environment are top priorities for the Canadian Coast Guard, said Nick Drescher Brown, media relations for the Department of National Defence.
“Ahead of any lobster fishing area (LFA) opening day, the Canadian Coast Guard and its search and rescue partners — the Royal Canadian Air Force, Department of National Defence, Fisheries and Ocean’s conservation and protection, and the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary—meet to coordinate their search and rescue postures. At this time, the overall plan for the opening of LFAs 33 and 34 is in development and will be finalized in November,” said Brown.
“Per normal operations, the Canadian Coast Guard monitors the openings of all fisheries very closely, participating in opening-day calls and assessing the associated risk. For significant fisheries, such as LFAs 33 and 34, the Canadian Coast Guard will develop search and rescue plans, which include pre-positioning assets and sometimes adding resources or crews, if needed,” said Brown.
“The Canadian Coast Guard encourages mariners to ensure safety measures are in place before heading out on the water, this includes testing and registering their emergency position-indicating radio beacons and personal locator beacons. We wish all harvesters a safe season,” he added.
While many lobster fishermen in Atlantic Canada had to comply with mandatory electronic logbooks (ELOGs) as a condition of licence in 2025, DFO Minister Joanne Thompson made the decision to delay the implementation of mandatory electronic logbooks for LFAs 33, 34, 35, 36 and 38 for the 2025 season, said Rachael Mahoney, communications advisor for Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
“If ELOGs were implemented this season, it would have meant that harvesters in these fisheries would need to complete an e-log and record second-page sales data on paper. This was not a viable option. Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) will work with industry to ensure an electronic solution is available for all data ahead of the 2026 season,” said Mahoney.
“DFO has been working with harvesters over the last several years to address their concerns about the move to ELOGs and appreciates their valuable feedback to date. We will continue to work with our partners to ensure a transition to ELOGs for the 2026 season. Questions about timelines for ELOGs in each region, as well as for support in making the switch from paper logbooks, should be directed to DFO at: fishing-peche@dfo-mpo.gc.ca,” Mahoney added.
Market-wise, going into the season there was “an air of concern” in the seafood sector, said Kris Vascotto, executive director of the Nova Scotia Seafood Alliance.
“We’ve witnessed a significant pullback from China, who is very important to us during the fall and winter seasons, since April when the tariffs came in. As we look forward, we hope that can it be resolved,” said Vascotto.
“One of our major market partners not taking as much product as they historically have creates some level of concern. At the same time, look at what happened to us last year. Nature threw us a bit of a curve ball when the season started. We had a substantial number of landings that were not necessarily suitable for the live trade, so that created some challenges serving our customers around the world. I think there is going to be a lot of trepidation at the start of the season,” said Vascotto.
As for the U.S. market, it seemed quite stable going into the fall, said Vascotto. “They had some challenges over the summer. Landings were a little bit slower, unexpectedly late, which means Canadian product has really been in demand” but “the American market is not able to absorb all of the product. There’s a lot of fluid moving pieces this year. It depends on how it all stacks up once we get into November.”
While lobster landing data for the LFA 33/34 2024–25 season is not yet available, according to preliminary statistics from DFO, for the 2024 calendar year, LFA 33 fishers landed 7,375 mt, valued at $183 million, while LFA 34 harvesters caught 17,103 mt, worth $415 million.
The LFA 33/34 commercial lobster fishery closes on May 31, 2026.
