Tag Archives: lobster harvesters

Lobster harvesters feel forced to fish until they die by DFO policy

Raymond O’Toole finds it hard fishing alone. He is 85. When he took over a lobster license at 14, there was little that could keep him and his punt off the water. This season, his 71st on the water, he broke a bone in his back heaving the wooden traps that can weight 50 lbs a piece. “I’d retire if I could sell or transfer my license, but when I die, it goes with me,”,,,  Across the Strait in Mulgrave, 80 year-old Richard Power contends that his lobster license has long been tied to economic outcomes for his family. With eight siblings to feed, at 12 years old he took up the oars behind his half blind father in the dory. >click to read< 10:36

PEISPA, PEIFA disappointed with the opening date of fall lobster season

The opening day is Monday, Aug. 10. A media release issued from the PEISPA explains this date will create difficulty for lobster processors to handle the large number of lobsters that will be harvested in the first week. The release goes on to say the fall season would usually start on Aug. 9, but since that date falls on a Sunday this year, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) supported changing the opening date.  “We are very disappointed that DFO rejected our simple but impactful request to start the fall fishery on Aug. 7,” said Jerry Gavin, executive director of the PEISPA. The P.E.I. Fishermen’s Association (PEIFA) also made a formal request for an earlier start date, confirmed executive director Ian MacPherson. >click to read< 09:54