Tag Archives: Coldwater Lobster Association
Dec. 7 dumping day on standby off southwestern N.S. – Captains and crews should be prepared to leave
The start of the LFA 34 commercial lobster season off southwestern N.S. remained on standby on Sunday evening, Dec. 6, following a late afternoon industry conference call. But there was a weather window being eyed for Monday, Dec. 7 for the season to possibly start anytime after 10 a.m.,, “If the call (Monday) morning gives the okay, there will be a delayed start, anytime after 10 a.m. Captains and crews should be prepared to leave late morning at the earliest on Monday, Dec. 7.” photos, >click to read< 16:52
Southwestern N.S. lobster season start still delayed again by winds on Dec. 3 and 4th
Just over an hour before boats in LFA 34 were to leave their wharves for the start of the season on Thursday came word that the wind has delayed the opening of the lobster season yet again. And later in the day the situation had still not changed. Heading into Thursday evening there was still no opening set for the season which, under good weather conditions, would have opened on Nov. 30. An emergency conference call took place at 7:30 a.m. on Thursday morning, Dec. 3, given a change in the weather from Wednesday’s forecast. The season was supposed to open at 9 a.m. >click to read< 19:27
Sipekne’katik Chief Threatening To Disrupt Commercial Lobster Fishery This Year
“If they can interfere with our fisheries, we’re going to start rallying up and blocking all of their wharves,”,, Sack says that on October 30, he spoke with a regional director of fisheries management for DFO. The director, according to Sack, informed the Chief that any untagged Mi’kmaq lobster traps would be confiscated. Commercial fishermen are claiming, however, that the Band has increased its fishing in the lobster breeding ground in recent days. On October 29, in a letter to Bernadette Jordan, several fishermen’s groups claimed the federal government is doing nothing to stop the unregulated fishery. >click to read< 11:36
Nova Scotia: Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan asking sides to meet to de-escalate lobster fishing tensions
And late Friday afternoon the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Chiefs declared a state of emergency for mainland Nova Scotia because of what it calls political unrest and violence. Early Friday evening Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan issued a statement,, “Our Government’s first priority is to ensure everyone involved remains safe. In Canada, anyone can participate in peaceful protests and that process is fundamental to our democracy,” she said. “At this time, it is imperative that all parties, and the public work together to lower tensions on the water and in our communities, to foster understanding between one another,,, “To that end, I’m extending an invitation for Indigenous leadership and industry leadership to meet with me as soon as possible. >click to read< 15:13
Discontent arrives at federal fisheries minister’s doorstep
Roger LeBlanc, on Thursday sporting a Maritime Fisherman’s Union cap and a jacket bearing the name of Beausoleil the Third, his 50-foot lobster boat ,is used to rising early. So, it was nothing for him to leave Meteghan at 6:30 a.m. to make the two-hour drive to Bridgewater. He didn’t want to miss the big rally in front of the office of Bernadette Jordan,,, . There was a time when LeBlanc hoped his grandson, Joseph, who is eight, could follow in the family business. Now he’s not so sure. “I’m here today,” he told me, “because I don’t see a future in our fishery.” >click to read< 08:11
Peaceful Protest: Hundreds of fishermen protest outside Fisheries and Oceans Minister Jordan’s office – Several hundred fishermen protested Thursday in Bridgewater, N.S., outside the constituency office of Fisheries and Oceans Minister Bernadette Jordan, demanding her department stop out-of-season commercial lobster harvesting and sales commercial lobster harvesting and sales by First Nations in Nova Scotia. >click to read<
Weather Delay – ‘You can’t beat Mother Nature’: start of lobster fishing season postponed
Lobster fishing season in southwestern Nova Scotia will be off to a late start this year after officials postponed the day that fishermen were slated to drop their traps — also known as “dumping day.” The season was supposed to kick off on Monday, but Fisheries and Oceans spokesperson Debbie Buott-Matheson said based on forecasted weather, the industry associations representing lobster fishing areas 33 and 34 decided in a Saturday morning conference call that it would be too risky to proceed as planned. >click to read<14:32
Governments of Canada and Nova Scotia fund projects to boost innovation in the fish and seafood sector
Canada is home to the longest coastline in the entire world – and this resource creates jobs and sustains livelihoods across our country. In the province of Nova Scotia, one in every five jobs is linked to the ocean. Healthy oceans mean a healthy, thriving and growing Canadian economy. That is why the Government of Canada and the Province of Nova Scotia today announced funding support to nine enterprises in the Nova Scotia fish and seafood sector through the Atlantic Fisheries Fund. >click to read<15:52
By-catch monitoring coming to inshore lobster fishery (some fishermen are pissed!)
For the first time, inshore lobster fishermen in southwest Nova Scotia will have someone looking over their shoulders when they head out to sea later this fall. It’s a change many are unhappy about, causing fishermen to snub their own associations — some of which have banded together to create a monitoring program. “We didn’t want this. None of the associations wanted this, but we have tried to make it better,” said Heather Mulock of the Coldwater Lobster Association on Wednesday. The federal Fisheries Department wants to gauge how many species, particularly cod and cusk, are being inadvertently caught in lobster pots. >click to read<21:34
Many topics on the agenda for South West Lobster Forum taking place in Yarmouth on Sept. 19
Five industry organizations representing lobster fishermen in Lobster Fishing Areas (LFA) 33, 34 and 35 are coming together to host the third annual South West Lobster Forum on Sept. 19 at the Grand Hotel in Yarmouth. The forum “is designed for the fishermen to come and get a handle of what’s going on in the industry,” says Bernie Barry, president of the Coldwater Lobster Association, one of the groups organizing this year’s event. The Scotia Fundy Inshore Fishermen’s Association, the Bay of Fundy Inshore Fishermen’s Association, the Maritime Fishermen’s Union (MFU) Local 9 and the Brazil Rock 33/34 association are the other groups involved with the organization of the event. Barry says there are “numerous hot topic items” on the day’s agenda,, >click to read<11:17
N.S. Fishermen call on government officials to crack down on lobster poaching
Bernie Berry glances across the wharf in Digby, N.S., as several fishing boats stop alongside for crews to offload their catch. As the season for this lobster fishing area — one of the most lucrative in Canada — prepares to close on the last day of May, it’s bringing with it a flurry of activity. Berry and others here hope the hustle and bustle of fishing isn’t replaced with negative activity come June 1. “Everyone knows what’s going on,” he said. “This kind of stuff has been going on for years.” >click to read<
Lobster wars
Burned out fishing boats, thousands of pounds of dumped, dead lobsters and allegations of a booming black market for the popular crustacean have drawn federal investigators to Nova Scotia’s most lucrative fishing grounds in the lead-up to lobster season. Tensions have been running high in recent weeks along the small wharves in the communities that dot St. Mary’s Bay, a well-known breeding ground for lobsters during the summer. While conservation laws prevent lobster fishers from harvesting the shellfish during breeding season in order to safeguard stocks, stunned locals watched thousands of pounds of lobsters that appeared to be commercial loads pass over their docks though the summer months. click here to read the story 10:53
Fishermen protest outside Fisheries office, lobsters dumped at ‘dozens’ of sites across Nova Scotia
Several dozen lobster fishermen gathered outside a federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) office in southwestern Nova Scotia on Monday to continue their protest over what they say is an illegal Indigenous commercial fishery. Bernie Berry of the Coldwater Lobster Association said about 50 protesters were in Digby to keep pressure on DFO officials to enforce regulations concerning the sale of lobster caught outside the regular season by Indigenous fishermen. Video, click here to read the story 14:47
Fishermen gather on Yarmouth wharf concerned that out-of-season lobster sales are taking place
Fishermen in Yarmouth have been gathering on Lobster Rock Wharf during evenings this week to draw attention to their claims and beliefs of commercial fishing taking place within the Aboriginal food fishery. Fishermen first gathered peacefully in the parking lot the evening of Sept. 6 and were back the evening of Sept. 7. The RCMP have also had a presence on and around the wharf, keeping an eye on things. During the Sept. 7 gathering RCMP Sergeant Stephen Power of Windsor spoke with fishermen to get a better understanding of why they were there. “I’m not here to do an investigation and I’m not here to arrest or charge anyone,” he said. “They just asked me to come in and help in any way I can. I want to hear what you have to say.” click here to read the story 17:14
Indigenous, commercial lobster fishermen clash in Digby County
The Sipekne’katik Band is accusing southwestern Nova Scotia lobster fishermen of throwing native fishing rights overboard. “There has been protesting and people are interfering with my people exercising their rights,” Chief Mike Sack said Thursday of a fleet of about 10 boats operated by the band that has been fishing lobster from different wharfs in St. Mary’s Bay in Digby County. “It has been escalating quickly over the last little bit.” Sack said local non-native fishermen from Lobster Fishing Area 34, the most lucrative lobster waters in Canada that encompasses an area from Baccaro Point to just below Digby, do not recognize native treaty rights to fish out of season. click here to read the story 22:57
Fishing groups say lobster fishery would be better off with industry-led by-catch monitoring system as opposed to something DFO imposes
If the reality is that it’s coming anyway, three local fisheries organizations say fishermen and industry would be better off to handle it themselves as opposed to having it handed down by DFO. Such is the case with a proposal that could see by-catch monitoring happen in the lobster fishery by the fall of 2018. Three local organizations – Coldwater Lobster Association, the Maritime Fishermen’s Union and the Bay of Fundy Inshore Fisheries Association – have joined efforts to get the message out that industry is willing to develop a monitoring system that would be better for the fishery in terms of cost and time.,,, Another proposal being thrown around is cameras on fishing boats. These three associations are all strongly opposed to such a Big Brother approach, saying not only would it be extremely expensive, but it would not generate any useful scientific data. click here to read the story 11:16
DFO plan for at-sea observers met with skepticism by lobster fishermen
A federal government proposal to introduce mandatory at-sea observers on board the southwest Nova Scotia lobster fleet is getting a cold shoulder from representatives of three fisheries groups.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans wants observers to monitor bycatch of cod and cusk caught inadvertently in lobster traps. Bernie Berry of the Coldwater Lobster Association said the plan would require all fishermen to notify the government every time they plan to leave port — a process known as hailing out. Some would be randomly selected to have an observer from an existing monitoring company meet them at the dock prior to sailing. click here to read the story 11:37
Coldwater Lobster Association wants more members, says many issues facing Nova Scotia industry
Coldwater Lobster Association, covering Lobster Fishing Area 34 in southwestern Nova Scotia, says there are issues that could have dire outcomes on the lobster industry. The association has around 80 members but says it would have more clout at the table with DFO and other groups if it was speaking for a larger percentage of the industry. One issue is a pending decision on whether to list cusk under the Species at Risk Act. COSEWIC(Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada) is collecting opinion online and through consultations until March 18. The committee says the mature portion of the cusk population has declined by 85 per cent over three generations. Read the rest here 11:29
Shell cuts capping timeline for N.S. offshore – They don’t say how much time, though.
The controversial timeline that allowed Shell Canada Ltd. to take up to three weeks to cap a subsea blowout off the coast of Nova Scotia will be reduced. The company submitted a revised plan to the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board on Thursday that would see the time it would take to deploy a vessel and capping system reduced from the current 21-day period. “We’re still reviewing it as we speak, but it will be quite a bit less than 21 days,” said board CEO Stuart Pinks. Read the rest here 08:57
