Tag Archives: Acadian Crabbers Association
Cape Breton snow crab fishery escapes impact of right whale closures, Different story in New Brunswick
While a right whale sighting earlier this month triggered a closure to the snow crab fishery in western Cape Breton, the closure had virtually no impact. But unlike closures in other parts of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, these shutdowns had virtually no impact on the area’s lucrative fishery. “That’s something we’re discussing. Are we lucky or are we just in that sweet spot?” said Basil MacLean, a Cape Breton snow crab fisherman and president of the Area 19 Snow Crab Fishermen’s Association. In New Brunswick, where the boats and quotas are larger, it’s been a different story in 2020. “24 out of 45 members from the Acadian Crabbers Association each left significant amounts of crab in the water this spring,” >click to read< 19:15
Like chasing unicorns?!! – Ropeless traps not easy for crabbers testing them in whale-protection effort
New Brunswick snow crab fishermen have been testing a ropeless trap system to reduce the use of fishing rope, which has been blamed in some of the deaths of endangered North Atlantic right whales. “The main problem with the ropeless gear … is that it was given way too much credit for what it can, at this time, achieve for the snow crab fishery,” Robert Haché, director general of the Acadian Crabbers Association, said in an interview.,, The ropeless traps, developed by California-based Desert Star System, are already used by fishermen in New Zealand and Australia. >click to read< 08:18
New Brunswick fishermen get $2M to test gear to prevent whale entanglements
Snow crab fishermen in northern New Brunswick are getting more than $2 million over three years to help test technologies aimed at reducing the risks of North Atlantic right whale entanglements in fishing gear.The funding for the Acadian Crabbers Association comes through the $400-million Atlantic Fisheries Fund, which is jointly funded by Ottawa and the region’s provincial governments. >click to read<17:08
How ropeless fishing traps could protect North Atlantic right whales — and the fishing industry
Tensions between Atlantic fishermen and conservationists escalated this week as the Department of Oceans and Fisheries closed six fishing grounds off the coasts of New Brunswick and Quebec.,, The whales’ arrival left many Canadian fishermen scrambling to remove their equipment from the affected waters amidst concern over what the closures could mean for their quotas. But scientist and veterinarian Michael Moore is advocating for a new technology that could appease both groups: ropeless fishing traps. >click to read<Who is Michael Moore, >click to read<09:52
New Brunswick Crab fishermen to test ropeless fishing
New Brunswick snow crab fishermen will test two ropeless trap methods this spring to reduce the use of the fishing rope blamed in the deaths of two North Atlantic right whales last year.,,Mark Baumgartner, of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, said ropeless fishing is the solution to the entanglement problem.,, Robert Haché, director general of the Acadian Crabbers Association, said the fishermen want to do all they can to prevent entanglements.,, The techniques to be tested this season will be from U.S.-based technology and research companies, Haché said. >click to read< 10:13
