Tag Archives: Covehead Harbour

P.E.I. harbours face challenges with approach of lobster season

The spring lobster season on Prince Edward Island is just a few weeks away, but some harbours are facing challenges as Island fishermen prepare to head out and set their traps. At Malpeque Harbour, windy weather has slowed down efforts to clear the winding channel that they will take on setting day. “They’ve had a real hard time this year due to weather,” said fisherman Timothy Wall, who has been fishing for 30 years, following the occupation of his father and grandfather. “They’ve been on the site for two weeks already, and they can’t even get to the outside of the harbour, just the weather hasn’t been fit. Moving the harbour deeper into Malpeque Bay, where there is less moving sand, could be an option, said Wall, but there are no certain answers. Video, photos, more, >>click to read<< 11:12

Lobster fishers set traps off Covehead, P.E.I., with Fiona still on their minds

In many ways, Saturday was like any other setting day for lobster fishers at Covehead Harbour, P.E.I. There was some good-natured teasing as the captain and deck hands heaved the 50-pound traps onto the boats over and over until there was just enough room to squeeze themselves in before starting the engines and heading off to sea. But, thanks to post-tropical storm Fiona last fall, it was also not like any other setting day. But how the storm affected the lobsters crawling along the ocean floor was something on the mind of Allan Coady, a member of the Covehead Harbour authority whose family has been fishing lobster for four generations. “We’re really anxious to get out there and get our first pick and see what they look like because after that storm nobody really knows,,, Photos, >click to read< 19:41

P.E.I. harbours damaged by Fiona being readied for spring lobster season

At Red Head Harbour near Morell, about 75 per cent of the harbour’s infrastructure was damaged by the late September wind and waves from Fiona, and some of the repairs are expected to take years. “We had lots of room before and everybody had to tighten up. Everyone had to take less space to allow a couple more gears in the east wharf and the south wharf,” said David Sansom, president of the Red Head Harbour Authority. Ottawa designated $100 million for urgent harbour repairs as part of a $300-million recovery package for Atlantic Canada announced in the days after Fiona. Photos, >click to read< 07:05

Ottawa earmarks $100 million for lost fishing gear, repair to harbours – $300-million fund for Atlantic Canada not enough, fishermen say

The federal government says $100 million from its hurricane Fiona fund will be earmarked for the recovery of lost fishing gear and the repair to small-craft harbours across Atlantic Canada and eastern Quebec. The federal Fisheries Department says in a news release the money will come from the $300 million Ottawa set aside for fishers, communities and companies affected by post-tropical storm Fiona, which made landfall on Sept. 24. >click to read< $300-million fund for Atlantic Canada not enough, fishermen say – Fishermen on P.E.I. say the federal government’s $300-million fund for Atlantic Canada is a good start to recover from post-tropical storm Fiona but falls far short of what is needed. It will cost millions just to fix the wharf at Covehead Harbour alone, said Allan Coady. >click to read< 09:26

Lobster fishermen rescued after boat hung up on sandbar in western P.E.I.

Northeast winds and low tides made setting day a challenge for some lobster fishermen on P.E.I. Monday. A fisherman and four crew had to be rescued in Hardy’s Channel in western P.E.I. at around 11 a.m. when their boat got hung up on a sandbar and water started coming in, according to Lloyd Phillips, the president of the Hardy’s Channel Fish Co-op. And at Covehead Harbour, fishermen said about half a dozen boats ended up docking in Rustico because a sandbar prevented them from getting back into Covehead. >click to read<23:13