The acting Regional Director General for the Gulf Region has altered the usual closing times in Scallop Fishing Area 24.
In an order dated Oct. 25, Jacqueline Richard announced the fishery would close from 6 p.m. until 6 a.m. until Dec. 15. The fishery will also be closed on Sundays.
A one-nautical-mile buffer zone is closed until further notice from the nearest point of land in the counties of Cumberland, Colchester, Pictou and Antigonish; and the nearest point of land around Pictou Island, situated in the Northumberland Strait, and from the nearest point of land from the Canso Causeway northward, including Henry Island and Port Hood Island, to the Mabou Harbour entrance range lights.
There’s also a buffer zone in waters less than 15 fathoms in depth until further notice, from the Mabou Harbour entrance range lights northward to the divisional line between Scallop Fishing Area 24 and Scallop Fishing Area 25 at High Capes.
A buffer zone was also established from Red Point Park to Prim Point, Prince Edward Island, including Fisherman’s Bank and areas known as the Ridge, north and east of Fisherman’s Bank, Eastern Ground, the Reef and then 1.5 nautical miles from the shore at Wood Island, as well as in the waters adjacent to the western coast of Cape Breton. This is until Dec. 31.