Tag Archives: Tommy Amirault
Rogue wave hits Canadian lobster industry as U.S. moves to increase minimum legal size
An unexpected decision to increase the minimum legal size of lobster in the United States has appeared like a rogue wave on the Canadian industry, threatening to curtail live exports south of the border. With total Canadian live shipments worth $545 million in 2022, the potential trade implications was the first item on the agenda in the annual U.S.-Canada lobster town meeting being held in Moncton, N.B., this week. “Effectively we will not be able to ship a certain size lobster there that we always have. So their action will create an action that we have to respond to in Canada,” said Geoff Irvine, executive director of the Lobster Council of Canada. The U.S. move to increase the minimum legal size of a lobster carapace, or outer shell, from 82 millimetres to 84 millimetres in January 2025 — and to 86 millimetres in 2027 — would create a mismatch in the closely integrated two-way trading between the countries. photos, more, >>click to read<< 10:22
Fishermen in Maine lobbied to keep wind farms out of crucial fishing grounds. Will it happen in N.S.?
A no-compromise lobbying campaign by Maine lobster harvesters has helped keep wind farms out of a crucial lobster fishing area in the Gulf of Maine. And that has some fishermen in Nova Scotia casting an envious eye south of the border. “I’m pleased to see that happen in Maine. We’d like to see the same sort of diligence taken in Nova Scotia,” said Tommy Amirault, a fisherman from Pubnico and president of the Coldwater Lobster Association. “Maine obviously has concerns. It would be nice to 
see both provincial and federal governments take our concerns into practice,” Amirault said. “We didn’t mince words that we opposed offshore wind anywhere in the Gulf of Maine. It’s one of the most productive ecosystems in the world. And we really didn’t think that this is the place to solve the renewable energy crisis,” said McCarron. In Nova Scotia, the process has just begun. He said it’s no surprise fishermen have concerns about where it happens. >>click to read<< 06:57
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
Spring Fishing Ramping Up After Harsh Winter Weather
With two months to go before the six-month commercial lobster season closes in lobster fishing areas (LFA) 33 and 34, the fishing fleet will be back on the water in full force come April in southwestern Nova Scotia. Going into March, the fishery had slowed to a crawl with severe winter storms keeping the fleet ashore and even prompting some fishermen to land their gear. “February has been a challenge, the weather,” said Tommy Amirault, president of the Coldwater Lobster Association. “I think a lot of people are encouraged by the price, but the weather has been an issue. It’s slowed the fishery down and that’s probably a factor in the price.” >click to read< 13:03
