Tag Archives: Lobster Fishing Area 25
Northumberland Strait fall lobster fishery opens under favorable conditions
After several delays, the fall lobster season is officially underway in Lobster Fishing Area 25. This region includes fishermen from southern PEI, northwestern Nova Scotia, and southeastern New Brunswick. The season was supposed to start on Wednesday but was pushed forward due to bad weather. Charlie McGeoghegan, president of the Lobster Fishers of PEI Marketing Board, says the boats set out on Sunday morning to cast their nets. “Any time you can get a scheduled day where the weather is nice and everyone is safe, they are optimistic,” McGeoghegan said. >click to read< 08:53
UPDATED – P.E.I. – Fall lobster season delayed by weather; Thursday opener confirmed.
The opening of P.E.I.’s fall lobster season has been delayed, according to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. The season was scheduled to open in Lobster Fishing Area (LFA) 25 on Aug. 9 and close on Oct. 10, but DFO officials say the season won’t open until weather conditions improve. When opening is delayed, the season closes a day late up to a maximum of four days. In a Facebook post to members, the P.E.I. Fishermen’s Association said the opening will be delayed until at least Aug.11. >click to read< 18:08
P.E.I.’s fall lobster fishery to open Thursday – P.E.I.’s fall lobster season will open at 6 a.m. Thursday, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans has confirmed. >click to read< 17:27
‘We’re quite happy’ P.E.I. fall lobster fishery has ‘higher demand than we’ve ever seen before,’
Fall lobster fishing in western P.E.I. seems to be off to a good start amid talk demand could be as high as it’s ever been in the season. On Monday morning, fishermen started setting their traps in Lobster Fishing Area 25, located at the western end of the Northumberland Strait between P.E.I. and New Brunswick. Charlie McGeoghegan, chair of the P.E.I. Lobster Marketing Board, says the sector has benefited recently from a considerable rise in demand for live lobster within Canada, as more people decide to cook at home due to the pandemic. “This year it seems there’s a higher demand than we’ve ever seen before, which we’re quite happy about.” >click to read< 08:19
P.E.I.’s fall lobster fishermen raise concerns about ghost fishing
A fisheries officer attending the annual meeting of the Prince County Fishermen’s Association said the amount of lost or abandoned lobster gear retrieved from the Northumberland Strait lobster grounds after the fall season ended was “extremely high said fisheries officer Anthony Cheverie. Cheverie said gear was retrieved throughout Lobster Fishing Area 25 (LFA 25), which takes in fishermen from P.E.I., New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Laura Ramsay, with the P.E.I. Fishermen’s Association, said fishermen are concerned about the amount of lost gear and agreed Canadian regulations “make it hard for fishermen to help go clean up that gear”. Gear Innovation Summit planned for Feb. 11, 12, >click to read< 10:20
P.E.I. lobster season closes Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2019
Despite missing about 10 fishing days, including four last week due to foul weather, Miminegash lobster fisherman Thane Deagle said Tuesday he’s quite satisfied with the Lobster Fishing Area 25 fall lobster fishery, which closes Wednesday. Deagle said his catch was up over last year, and he thinks just about every fall lobster fisherman saw an increase this year.,, Catches were not the only improvement P.E.I.’s fall fishermen witnessed this year. >click to read< 12:17
Strong start to fall lobster season in P.E.I.
The vice-president of the Prince County Fishermen’s Association (PCFA) has a simple method to gauge the success of the fall lobster season so far. “There’s nobody growling and my phone’s not ringing, so it must be good. That’s all I can say,” said Shelton Barlow. “Everybody is quite happy.” Catches in Lobster Fishing Area 25 started out stronger than normal >click to read< 08:06
PEIFA puzzled over prices: association says P.E.I. price is 25 cents behind New Brunswick’s
The Prince Edward Island Fishermen’s Association is describing it as “puzzling” that the price P.E.I. fall lobster fishermen are receiving for their catch is trending 25 cents a pound lower than what New Brunswick fishermen are receiving. The fall fishermen all fish in the same body of water, Lobster Fishing Area 25 in the Northumberland Strait. “Despite warmer than normal temperatures, harvesters report robust product is being delivered to buying stations in Prince County,” the PEIFA says. The association notes many fall fishermen invested fairly significantly in recent months in onboard storage equipment to maintain the quality of their catch. >click to read<18:25
Lobster carapace size increase remains a concern at some P.E.I. ports
Miminegash lobster fishermen are claiming to be negatively impacted by the two-millimetre carapace increase imposed this year. One fisherman, loading up with bait for the next day’s fishing, said Wednesday he is throwing back a lot of lobsters that are just under the minimum length. Shane Costain, captain of the Miminegash Maiden, said his catch took a big dip on Tuesday. He said a lot of lobsters he is throwing back would have been legal size if not for this year’s increase. “The measure is hitting us hard,” he insisted. >click to read<14:49
Fall lobster fishery is underway in Lobster Fishing Area 25
A crowd was on the dock with cameras, smart phones and cheerful waves as loaded lobster boats sailed out the mouth of Miminegash Harbour at 6 a.m. Thursday. They were there to see the fishermen off on setting day, the official start of the fall fishery in Lobster Fishing Area 25. The scene was repeated at wharves from Borden to Skinners Pond in the Northumberland Strait, and around North Cape at Seacow Pond and Tignish. >click to read<11:08
P.E.I. fisherman prepare for fall lobster season
Lee Knox is hoping the forecast for this Thursday’s setting day of relatively light wind of up to 15 knots holds, as it will allow for good conditions for fishermen to unload their traps.,, The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has a conference call with port representatives set for this morning to assess setting day weather conditions and make the decision on whether the season opens Thursday, as scheduled, or gets delayed. Knox is anticipating it will get started on time. Approximately 218 western P.E.I. fall fishermen share Lobster Fishing Area 25 in the Northumberland Strait with mainland fishermen from Chatham, N.B., nearly to Amherst, N.S. >click to read<
P.E.I.’s fall fishery facing falling lobster prices, surging dollar
Bobby Jenkins, Prince Edward Island Fishermen’s Association president, says there are a much smaller number of fishermen harvesting lobster in the fall, compared with the Island’s spring fishery. That, he said, may help maintain prices but there are storm clouds on the horizon. P.E.I.’s fall lobster fishermen set their gear in the Northumberland Strait between Victoria and North Cape on Tuesday. They share the lobster fishing zone with New Brunswick fishermen and a few harvesters from Nova Scotia. The first full catches of the season will be landed today. click here to read the story 09:59
Brian Locke’s marking setting day milestone, 100th season-opening
When Brian Locke sets sail Tuesday morning from Howard’s Cove with Captain Jimmy Reilly, it will be his 100th time participating in the lobster fishing industry’s setting day tradition. Locke, 64, got his start in the industry in 1971 as second man with Mick Gallant. They set from Arsenault’s Wharf in Cascumpec, out through Goose Harbour to the north side lobster fishing grounds. He crewed for Howard’s Cove fisherman Allen Cooke. From 1973 to the early 2000’s, with the exception of three years in the early 1980s, he fished full or part fall seasons out of Howard’s Cove with a series of Cookes, mostly with his uncle Cyril and his cousin Ricky. click here to read the story 11:40
The domino effect. Fisheries policy raising the carapace measure risks dividing fishermen
The domino effect. That’s sort of what lobster fishermen in P.E.I. are up against after the Federal Fisheries Department decided the carapace measure has to go up in Lobster Fishing Area 25. Prince Edward Island’s 225 fall fishermen share Northumberland Strait’s LFA 25 with 470 New Brunswick boats and 16 from Nova Scotia. It’s a narrow strip of water, so it’s impossible to draw a line through the middle of it and keep the Island boats on one side of the line and leave the other side to the mainlanders. Despite fishing the same body of water, the fishermen on either side of the puddle – or at least the organizations representing them – have opposing views on what the minimum carapace size should be. Read the op-ed here 11:58
Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc says increasing the minimum lobster size balances sustainability, economic benefits.
A decision to increase the minimum size for lobsters caught in the western end of the Northumberland Strait will not be changed by the new fisheries minister. Dominic LeBlanc — MP for the riding of Beauséjour in New Brunswick — took over the portfolio when Hunter Tootoo resigned Tuesday to seek treatment for addiction. P.E.I. fishermen and others have questioned Tootoo’s recent decision to increase carapace size for Lobster Fishing Area 25. LeBlanc, who was taking questions from reporters in New Brunswick Thursday, said the decision will not be reversed and it is time to move on to other issues. Read the rest here 09:28
Winners and Losers – The politics of fisheries decisions in Lobster Fishing Area 25
With just about any political decision there are winners and there are losers. A tax break helps some while others pay through a reduction in service somewhere else. There are also winners and losers, or at least a perception of such, in the case of Federal Fisheries Minister Hunter Tootoo’s decision last week to increase the minimum lobster carapace size in Lobster Fishing Area 25. The Maritime Fishermen’s Union in New Brunswick can claim to be the winner, in that it had been lobbying for an increase, while the Prince County Fishermen’s Association in P.E.I. is taking the loss as it had been arguing in favour of leaving the size limit unchanged. Read the rest here 12:15
Fisheries and Oceans Canada – Lobster size minimums to increase in Lobster Fishing Area 25
New Brunswick lobster fishermen are “ecstatic” about the federal government’s decision to increase the minimum size for lobster harvested between the southeast of the province and P.E.I., by five millimetres over the next three years. Fisheries and Oceans Canada issued a notice on Friday, informing harvesters of the change for the western half of the Northumberland Strait, known as Lobster Fishing Area 25. “Our harvesters feel this is an historical decision,” said Christian Brun, executive secretary of the Maritime Fishermen’s Union in New Brunswick. It comes after a long-standing dispute between fishermen in New Brunswick and P.E.I. over carapace size, he said. The legal harvesting size will increase by one millimetre to 73 mm this season, and will further increase to 75 mm in 2017 and 77 mm in 2018, according to the government notice. Read the rest here 20:49
P.E.I. fall lobster landings – Best year ever on record
The steep climb in P.E.I. fall lobster landings in recent years, including a 16.3 per cent increase in 2014, had fishermen talking with optimism during the annual meeting of the Prince County Fishermen’s Association Thursday in O’Leary. The improved landings, coupled with a more than 30 per cent increase in shore price over the previous year, saw the value of the fall lobster fishery shoot up 51 per cent in the past year. Read the rest here 11:46
The Honourable Keith Ashfield, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Canada: Carapace Size Increase for Lobster Fishing Area 25
issued the following statement today on the minimum legal size for lobster fished in the western half of the Northumberland Strait between New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and P.E.I., in an area known as Lobster Fishing Area 25. continued@marketwired
