Tag Archives: LFA 33
A lobster season Q&A: Supply and demand, price volatility and challenges in markets
It’s never smooth sailing for the Atlantic Canada lobster industry. Each year there are issues and challenges to contend with. The weather and catches are beyond anyone’s control. But the one constant is how important this industry is economically to the region, and to the communities that rely on it. Tasked with such things as marketing and advocacy of the industry is the Lobster Council of Canada. In this Q&A, the council’s executive director, Geoff Irvine, talks about the industry, the upcoming lobster season in southwestern Nova Scotia, and the challenges that continue to stack up on the menu. Q: How does the fall opening of the LFA 33 and 34 districts look in comparison to previous seasons? more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:28
Dumping day begins in southwestern Nova Scotia with calm conditions
Dumping day began with much fanfare in southwestern Nova Scotia early Tuesday morning. Fireworks signaled the start of the commercial lobster season in Sambro, with loved ones waving goodbye from the wharf where crowds gathered to see the fishers off. “It’s an exciting morning, we always all come down and watch the fireworks, as they go out, it’s a pretty big day for everybody,” said Briana Beaver, whose partner is a fisher. Dumping day for lobster fishing areas 33 and 34 is typically the final Monday of November, but there was a one-day delay this year due to rough weather. While conditions were calm Tuesday, boats that work in LFA 34, which extends from Shelburne County around the southwest coast of the province, were allowed to leave a bit earlier at 5 a.m. Photos, Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:30
Past lobster season opener hits and misses in southwestern Nova Scotia
The majority of time if the scheduled opening day of the lobster season in southwestern Nova Scotia doesn’t go according to plan, it’s because the weather and safety concerns have forced a postponement. The lobster season is always slated to open the last Monday of November. Strong winds are preventing that once again from happening on Monday, Nov. 25 for the start of the 2024-25 season. Tuesday, Nov. 26, has been identified as the more favourable option with industry weather calls happening the morning of Monday, Nov. 25 in LFAs 34 and 33 to confirm the season opening. While weather is always the culprit for a season opening delay, through time there have been other issues that have also had impacts on season starts. Here’s a look back at past season openers. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 12:57
Safety paramount for lobster season opening in southwestern N.S.
Opening day protocol for the two lobster fishing districts dictates that any winds above 26 knots will delay the scheduled season start of the lobster fishery. Last season, LFA 33 opened after a one-day delay, while dumping day in the LFA 34 opening was delayed by a week. “The decision on whether to advance or delay the opening date considers weather forecasts provided by Environment Canada and advice from the LFA advisory committees,” says Sankey. Opening day protocol for the two lobster fishing districts dictates that any winds above 26 knots will delay the scheduled season start of the lobster fishery. Last season, LFA 33 opened after a one-day delay, while dumping day in the LFA 34 opening was delayed by a week. Photo’s, >>click to read<< 12:27
Lobster season opens with lower catches, $7 shore price
Lobster landings are estimated to be down by as much as up to 40 per cent in some areas of Lobster Fishing Area (LFA) 34 after the first week of the six-month commercial lobster fishery in southwestern Nova Scotia. “Catches are down in our area (LFA 33) 20 to 30 percent, and in LFA 34, I’m hearing they are down as low as 40 percent in some areas,” said Lockeport lobster buyer Mike Cotter, owner of Cotters Seafood Products. “Catches seem to be a little bit stronger the further you go east compared to catches in the west,” he said. The opening shore price was set at $7 a pound compared to a record-setting opening shore price last season of $11 a pound in LFAs 33 and 34 Photos, >click to read< 06:33
Low prices, high costs face southwest Nova Scotia lobster fishermen
As captains and crews wait for an opening in the weather to drop their gear off southwest Nova Scotia, they’ve also got other big worries: low prices for their catch and historically high costs. The price at the wharf is expected to be somewhere around $6 to $6.25 a pound, down nearly half from $11.25 on opening day for Lobster Fishing Area 34 last season. The neighbouring LFA 33, which runs from about Halifax to Cape Sable Island, opened earlier this week but weather has meant most captains there have only had the opportunity to haul their traps once. >click to read< 16:08
IN PHOTOS: Lobster boats head out from Eastern Passage as fishery opens
It was dumping day Tuesday for lobster fishers in Nova Scotia’s zone 33, which runs along the province’s south shore between Halifax and Shelburne. Vessels heavy with gear and their crews’ hopes for a lucrative season set out before daybreak to set their traps. Zone 34, the larger area with about 980 licences compared to 635 in zone 33, has had its opening delayed by bad weather. Photos, >click to read< 07:47
Lobster season opens in southwestern N.S. on Dec. 1 after two-day delay
Even on the day the postponed lobster fishery opened in southwestern Nova Scotia, it still had one more delay to contend with. Instead of leaving their ports at the traditional 6 a.m. start time on Wednesday, Dec. 1, the boats and crews in Lobster Fishing Area (LFA) 34 left at 8 a.m. The two-hour delay, coming on the heels of a two-day postponement of the season, was decided on during a 4 a.m. industry conference call on Wednesday morning as crews waited for confirmation of whether the season would see a Dec. 1 opening. >click to read< 08:35
LFA 33 to open, Monday a no-go for LFA 34: weather forecast leads to split start of commercial lobster season
The fishery in Lobster Fishing Area (LFA) 33, which runs along the province’s south shore will open as scheduled on Monday, with boats leaving at 7 a.m. But that’s not the case for LFA 34 off southwestern Nova Scotia, which, following days of fine weather over the weekend, won’t see boats heading out for dumping day on the traditional last Monday of November. With boats loaded with traps and gear for the start of the season, two industry and stakeholder conference calls held over the weekend,,, “The lobster fishery is vital to our region and our province, and there is a very real anxiety among our community members that this important economic driver is in jeopardy, >click to read< 15:30
Past lobster season openers starts and misses in southwestern Nova Scotia
There are years the opening of the lobster fishery off southwestern Nova Scotia goes off without a hitch, but not always. The season is always slated to start on the last Monday of November, but sometimes the weather says otherwise. The opening day, when fishermen head to sea to set their traps, is known as dumping day. After traps have been set, boats can start hauling their catches at one minute after midnight, when day two gets underway. Here’s a look at some past season openers. 2015: Good start, good price – The lobster season got off to a good start with decent opening day weather and better yet, a better price than in previous years. Fishermen were being paid around $6 a pound for their landings. photos, >click to read< 07:49
Weather delays opening day of lobster season in southwest N.S.
Rather than heading out to sea to set their gear on Monday, Nov. 25, strong winds have kept fishermen ashore an extra day. A decision was made during industry conference calls on Monday morning to go with a Tuesday, Nov. 26 opening. Rather than leaving the wharves at the normal 6 a.m. time in LFA 34 (in southwestern Nova Scotia) the decision was to push the start back to 7 a.m. LFA 33, which stretches along the province’s South Shore, will also have a 7 a.m. start on Tuesday. >click to read< 10:57
Gearing up for the lobster season opening in western Nova Scotia
Another lobster season is set to get underway and along with the lobster traps and gear that fishermen will head out to sea with, they’ll also be bringing along high hopes. High hopes for good catches, and high hopes for good prices. The Lobster Fishing Area (LFA) 34 lobster fishery in southwestern Nova Scotia and LFA 33 along the province’s south shore make up the largest commercial lobster season in the region and the country. >click to read< 07:05
Lobster landings down, shore price record-setting for opening week
Shore prices were record-setting for the opening week of the commercial lobster fishery in southwestern Nova Scotia, going from $6 to $6.25 per pound on the first landing day (Dec. 2) to $8 by Friday (Dec. 7), but on the bad side the prices were driven by an estimated 30 to 40 per cent decrease in lobster landings compared to the same timeframe last year. “The price is phenomenal,” said Lockeport buyer Mike Cotter, owner of Cotter’s Ocean Products Inc. “It’s unreal. It opened at $6, $6.25 and now today it’s $8. That’s a big price.” >click to read<10:26
Following weather delay lobster fishery will get underway on Saturday, Dec. 1
The lobster fishery in southwestern Nova Scotia and along the province’s south shore will open on Saturday. Under ideal weather conditions the season would have begun on Monday, Nov. 26, but winds this week pushed the start of the season back to Dec. 1. In LFA 34 (which takes in all of Yarmouth County and parts of Shelburne and Digby counties) boats will leave their wharfs at 6 a.m. on Saturday. In LFA 33, which extends from Shelburne County to Halifax County, boats will depart at 7 a.m. >click to read<12:40
Lobster season off southwest Nova Scotia postponed again due to bad weather
The federal Fisheries Department confirmed today that industry representatives from Lobster Fishing Area 33, which extends from Halifax to the southwestern tip of the province, have decided to open their season on Saturday at 7 a.m. About 700 fishing boats are expected to dump their traps that day, unless the weather again turns foul. In Lobster Fishing Area 34, which includes 970 boats that work the waters off the province’s western edge, fishermen and federal officials decided today to put off their final decision until a conference call is held Thursday morning. >click to read<17:31
Mid-week decision will be made on a Friday or Saturday start to the lobster fishery
The start of the lobster season that had been delayed for Monday now won’t happen until Friday or Saturday in southwestern Nova Scotia and along the province’s south shore. During a Monday morning 8 a.m. conference call that took place for LFA 34, the decision was made to have another conference call on Wednesday morning to decide on a Friday or Saturday opening. The vote to hold off until beyond Wednesday was made by the port reps given the forecast for the next few days. Fourteen LFA 34 port reps voted no-go until later in the week, two voted to go earlier and one rep abstained from the vote. A conference call took place in LFA 33 an hour later. The decision to hold off until week’s end was unanimous in that call. >click to read<16:39
Monday start to LFA 33/34 lobster season in southwestern N.S. and province’s south shore being delayed
The start of the province’s largest and longest lobster fishery in LFAs 33 and 34 is being delayed due to winds and won’t start Monday, Nov. 26. The last Monday of November is traditionally the start of the season, but that’s only if the weather permits. The decision to postpone the start of the season was made during conference calls for both districts Saturday morning, Nov. 24. The next conference calls to determine if there will be a Tuesday or Wednesday opening are scheduled for Monday morning. The conference call for LFA 34 (which takes in southwestern Nova Scotia) will be Monday morning at 8 a.m. The call for LFA 33 (which takes in the province’s south shore) will be Monday at 9 a.m. >click to read<16:04
Largest lobster fishing season opens in southwestern Nova Scotia next week
The largest commercial lobster season in the region, the province and the country gets underway next week in southwestern Nova Scotia and along the province’s south shore with the opening of the LFA 34 and 33 lobster fisheries.,, Aboard boats leaving from wharfs at the opening of their seasons will be more than 5,000 fishermen, which includes extra crewmembers that are hired for the opening weeks of the season. There are around 1,678 lobster licences amongst these two LFAs. >click to read<08:14
DUMPING DAY DELAYED: Forecasted winds cancel Nov. 27 start of lobster season
The opening of the lobster fishery off southwestern Nova Scotia has been delayed due to the forecasted high winds. The season, which was to have started on Monday, Nov. 27, with dumping day, will only start Tuesday at the earliest. A decision to postpone the start of the LFA 34 (southwestern Nova Scotia) and LFA 33 (south shore of NS) seasons was made during Saturday morning conference calls to review the forecasted weather. Anything forecasted winds above 25 knots automatically cancels the start of the season. Sometimes the opening of lobster fishing off southwestern Nova Scotia goes off without a hitch. And sometimes not. Here’s a look at some past season openings over the years. click here to read the story 11:39
Lobster season drawing to a close off southwestern Nova Scotia
The largest commercial lobster season in Canada comes to a close this week with the end of the season in lobster fishing areas (LFAs) 34 and 33 off southwestern Nova Scotia and along the province’s south shore. Fishermen in these districts have until the end of the day Wednesday, May 31, to haul their traps out of the water, although some had already started bringing loads of traps and gear shore over the weekend. (A nice little rundown of the season, with some very good photo’s of hard working people doing what they do, and a mention in reverence to Fisherman Big Jim Buchanan who tragically lost his life early in the season) Click here to view the photos and read the story. Rest in Peace Jim Buchanan. 17:22
Sometimes the opening of lobster fishing off southwestern Nova Scotia goes off without a hitch. And sometimes not.
In the present day, there are 979 licences in Lobster Fishing Area (LFA) 34, which is slated to see its season start with Dumping Day on Monday, Nov. 28. The neighbouring LFA 33 along the province’s south shore also opens the same day. As fishermen gear up for the start of another lobster season, he’s a look back at some season starts of years gone by. 2015: Good start, good price Last year’s lobster season got off to a good start with decent opening day weather and better yet, a better price than in previous years. Fishermen were being paid around $6 a pound for their landings. 2014: Six-day weather delay,,, Read the rest here 10:05
