The Reel Bender; photo courtesy Craig MacLean
The president of the Inverness South Fishermen’s Association says there’s a big question mark hanging above the 2020 lobster season in the Quad Counties.
Jordan MacDougall says COVID-19 has already had a huge impact on the province’s economy.
MacDougall tells The Hawk a delay to the lobster season would hit the economy even harder.
“It’d be terrible- there’s a lot of jobs depending here,” he says. “The lobster fishery is the big dog in Nova Scotia- we earn the big dollars for our province.”
MacDougall says the virus is stifling domestic and international trade.
He says that means there likely won’t be anyone to buy their catch even if they fish it.
“The market’s tanked, so the product’s not going to be well received price-wise- things are tough in that nature, and the processors are having trouble getting workers to process the lobster, and the live markets, well, that’s dismal too,” he says. “There are some buyers buying product and moving it still, but when we start fishing, it’s the volume of lobsters that comes on shore at the one time- that is the issue, whether the industry can move that amount.”
MacDougall says starting the season wouldn’t do members of the industry any good if they can’t sell their catches.
He says they’ve been consulting with their counterparts with the federal government about what could happen with the upcoming season, and they expect to hear a decision soon.
