Gale force winds and bitter cold kept lobster fishing area (LFA) 33 and 34 fishermen ashore more than at sea during February.
“The story of February has been weather, weather, weather and cold weather. Northwest winds over and over. Really cold water. It’s an old-fashioned winter. The harbours are full of slush ice,” said Tommy Amirault, president of the Coldwater Lobster Association.
Many LFA 33 and 34 fishermen landed their gear for the winter months, with plans to resume fishing once the weather improves.
Amirault guessed more fishermen than usual brought traps ashore. “Catches are pretty low with the weather being so bad. People are a little more leery about leaving their gear out. Gear is expensive. Even with the price being $15, $16, the catches are not good enough to justify leaving gear out in these severe winter storms. It seems like it blows every day.”
For the shore-based lobster sector, the LFA 33/34 season so far has been very, very challenging, said Kris Vascotto, executive director of the Nova Scotia Seafood Alliance.
“Landings continue to be slow. The price is healthy for the harvester but makes it challenging on the customer end,” said Vascotto.
With other LFAs in Atlantic Canada set to open in April and May, “we’re coming up to the next cycle. Landings will increase. It will be a whole different ball game in about a month and half,” said Vascotto. “We’re expecting to see a little bit of movement over the next little while but you never really know with the current situation that’s coming up (U.S. tariffs).”
The season reopened for LFA 35 fishers the last day of February, but most will wait until mid to late March, or early April when the water gets a little warmer to start fishing, said Chris Hersey, co-chair LFA 35 Advisory Committee.
“What the spring will bring depends on when the water warms up. It’s pretty cold now,” said Hersey.
The fall lobster fishery in LFA 35 went well, said Hersey. “The price was up. The quality seemed pretty good. Landings were a little better for us than the year before.”
Hersey said there were positive signs of recruitment in the catch with lots of juvenile and seed lobsters.
Geoff Irvine, executive director of the Lobster Council of Canada, said the winter harvesting season has been variable in terms of volume and yield.
“The tariff situation clearly will influence how the rest of the Southwestern Nova Scotia season plays out,” he said.
