Tag Archives: Bait Masters Inc.
P.E.I. bait company puts seal meat plans on ice, fearing U.S. fallout
Bait Masters Inc. started producing bait sausages in its $1.4-million facility in Nine Mile Creek in April 2021, using a mix of fish, fish oil and other organic matter inside a biodegradable casing. In March, the company did a test run of sausages using a seal-mackerel mix and the results were promising. However, as word spread that the bait would contain seal byproducts, that triggered some red flags in the fishing industry because of U.S. rules around the seal harvest, laid out in the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act. Prevost received an email that was being circulated to people in the lobster industry, warning of the implications if seal were to be used in trap bait. Photos, >click to read< 07:29
Is Sausage the Missing Link in the Great Bait Debate?
Imagine you’ve got a lobster in front of you, bright red and softly steaming. There’s a fish in that picture, too, though you can’t see it—the fish that was tucked into a trap to lure in the lobster that could end up on your dinner plate. There’s no fish visible in the thick sausage Wally MacPhee lifts off the top of a half pallet of cardboard boxes either, even if it smells of the sea and has a piscine give to it when squeezed. But he’s hoping lobsters won’t know that—for the fishers’ sake, and for the sake of the small silvery baitfish this partially frozen cylinder is meant to replace. >click to read< 09:14
P.E.I. alternative bait manufacturer sees increased interest amid Mackerel and Herring fishery closure
In 2017, Mark Prevost and Wally MacPhee had an idea to create an alternative, sustainable bait to fish lobster with. With experience in lobster fishing and buying, the pair saw a need for an alternative bait after noticing fluctuations in cost of bait, decreasing fish availability and increasing waste from the use of traditional baits like mackerel and herring. With a few barrels welded together and a hand-cranked meat grinder, the pair experimented with ingredients and field-tested their new product in the waters of P.E.I. and Nova Scotia. >click to read< 11:36
Dropping numbers of herring and mackerel have spurred calls for lower quotas and new bait
A sausage-like concoction that aims to replace a quickly dwindling source of bait for lobster traps appears to be a success with fishermen following a series of preliminary trials, according to the scientist behind it. Bait Masters Inc. has developed a new bait using 75 per cent less herring and mackerel than would usually go in a trap. It’s made up of fish, oil, and other organic matter squeezed in a biodegradable casing. >click to read< 09:49
P.E.I. company testing new bait for lobster and crab fishery
Bait Masters Inc. is testing the new product in the fall crab and lobster fishery on P.E.I. “The new bait is a mix of fish and other organic matters in a biodegradable casing,” said Wally MacPhee, co-owner of the company. “It reduces the amount of pelagic fish used in the bait process. We’re hoping to reduce it by 50 percent per piece so it would be a help with sustainability.” Mackerel and herring, the traditional bait used by the lobster fishery on P.E.I., has become increasingly more expensive and difficult for Island fishermen to find. >click to read< 07:39
P.E.I. lobster fishing industry looking at replacements for traditional bait
A Tignish lobster fisherman says he would welcome new bait sources for the fishery “as long as it is environmentally-friendly.” Kenneth LeClair,,, was commenting on news that a Canadian fish broker was recently granted permission to bring in blackbelly rosefish from Uruguay to use as bait for the lobster fishery in Maine. The company, New Brunswick-based Cooke Aquaculture, is still awaiting Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s decision on whether it can also market the bait in Atlantic Canada.,,, Meanwhile, a P.E.I. startup company, Bait Masters Inc., is in the research and development phase of testing the potential for an all-natural bait made of fish products and fish oils. >click to read< 11:35
