Lobster traps at Mabou Harbour; photo courtesy Cheryl MacQuarrie
The head of a group representing local fishermen says delaying lobster season two weeks means their members will catch less, won’t be able to ship as much, and will get a lower price.
The lobster season for many fishermen in the Quad Counties usually starts April 30; the 2020 season has been pushed back to May 15 due to COVID-19 concerns.
Duane Boudreau, the Gulf Nova Scotia Bonafide Fishermen’s Association president, says local fishermen would rather stay home and stay safe against the threat of COVID-19, but they can’t.
Boudreau tells The Hawk he’s been told multiple times there’s no aid package coming for fishermen.
“We are forced into a situation where we have to fish and that’s unacceptable,” he says. “They’ve had a month to come up with something now, and I don’t see two extra weeks changing anything- I think we are about to be thrown to the wolves.”
Boudreau says the delay isn’t being applied evenly, so there are other fishermen in the province- including some in the Quad Counties- already out on the water.
He says that puts their fishermen at a huge disadvantage.
“The majority of fishmen felt that if we were going to fish, we should be able to start on time as we normally would,” he says. “Right now, we’ve got other areas in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick that are fishing, and we’re forced to be ashore.”
Boudreau says the highest number of lobsters are in their fishing zone at the very start of the season, and a delay puts them closer to molting season, when lobsters can’t be shipped.
He says the market will be flooded by the time local fishermen are allowed to start since others are already fishing.
