The Tragedy of the Miss Ally – Part I
It was a grey day in February 2017 as Della Sears Newell sat at her kitchen table viewing a scrapbook containing pages of newspaper clippings, hand-written notes and an unofficial log of activities from the Joint Rescue Coordinating Centre (JRCC) in Halifax dated February 16 and 17, 2013.
Oblivious to the light snow falling outside her window, Della was at home on Cape Sable Island, just days before the fourth anniversary of the loss of her son.
Della is emotional and stressed, but also ...
Fisheries Issues Spill Over Into Protests
The Newfoundland and Labrador fishery has been hit hard by 2017 quota cuts to two of the key and most profitable species.
Earlier this year, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) announced a 63 per cent cut to the inshore Northern shrimp quota in Fishing Area 6 — meaning the total allowable catch for SFA 6 went from 48,196 tonnes in 2015 to 27,825 tonnes in 2016, to 10,400 tonnes announced for 2017. This amounted to a 78 per cent quota reduction over two years.
In the wake of ...
Heavy Ice Causing Delays in N.L. Fisheries
FFAW Calling for Compensation and Extended Employment Insurance
Pack ice is no stranger to Newfoundland and Labrador’s Northeast coast.
However, a long, cold winter, combined with hurricane-force Northeasterly winds, have really made a mess of the spring crab and lobster fisheries. Many ports are choked with heavier-than-normal ice this spring, blocking many fishing vessels from even leaving the dock, let alone reaching the grounds.
Fish, Food and Allied Worker (FFAW) Union President ...
On the Waterfront – June 2017
DFO Wins Controlling Agreement Legal Challenge
In a May 5 ruling, Federal Court Justice Cecily Strickland has upheld the Department of Fisheries and Ocean’s (DFO) policy on controlling agreements between fishermen and corporations.
DFO has always maintained that individual fishermen, not corporations, are allowed to hold and control inshore licences.
However, this rule was challenged in federal court recently by of Cartwright, Labrador fisherman Kirby Elson.
Elson was appealing a ...
Expanding Markets for Canadian Lobsters Through Marketing and Branding
With spring galloping along at a brisk pace, the lobster market becomes flooded as many areas re-enter the fishery after laying low over the winter months.
This is the case for harvesters in New England and most of the Maritimes, but not for Southwest Nova Scotia, where over 1,600 vessels ply the waters between Digby and Halifax.
With the emergence of larger fishing vessels, many harvesters in Digby, Yarmouth and Shelburne Counties fish the whole winter, albeit not every day, but as ...
The Twine Loft – June 2017
Passed On: Eddie Gaudet – Grosses Coques, N.S. Fisherman
Gaudet, 61, passed away April 15 at the Victoria General Hospital, Halifax, following complications of a major surgery. He was a son of the late Maria (Theriault) Gaudet and was a fisherman for 46 years.
Passed On: Herbert Foote – Lockeport, N.S. Fisherman
Foote, 78, Lockeport, passed away peacefully April 7 at the Queens General Hospital. Born in Lockeport, he was a son of the late George Walter and Aletha Marjorie (Blades) ...
Back on the Water: Signs Point to Good Spring Season for P.E.I. Lobster Harvesters
April 26, 2017 dawned on Prince Edward Island with a roar of engines as more than 1,000 boats sailed from their home ports to the, hopefully, fertile lobster grounds around the province.
The weather was ideal, a far cry improvement from some setting days in recent years, when obstacles like harbours choked with ice and dangerously high winds have made major problems for harvesters.
But there was nary a sniff of bad tidings this year as the fleet set sail for Lobster Fishing Areas (LFA) 24 ...
Bucking the Temperature Trend
The majority of people associated with the fishing industry will agree that climate change and ocean warming is real — oceanagraphic data from the around the world backs up the premise.
Scientists from around the globe have been studying the warming phenomena for some time and have been trying to predict its impact on the many species of fish off our shores.
And while those in the scientific community — even the newly muzzled ones in the United States — are primarily in agreement that ...
Home and Abroad
MI Receives $1.5 Million for Marine, Aquaculture and Ocean Technology Projects
A $1.5-million investment in the Fisheries and Marine Institute of Memorial University will benefit the marine, aquaculture and ocean technology sectors, locally and around the world.
The funding, announced by the Government of Canada, will support three projects including the improvement of the Institute’s simulator capacity, allow for the establishment of a Regional Aquaculture Centre and advancements in the ...
Maximizing Value From Limited Resources
Total commercial fish landings in Atlantic Canada were under 700,000 metric tonnes every year from 2012 to 2016.
They were the lowest levels recorded since 1994 through 1996, just after the various moratoriums on fishing groundfish species were declared, starting with the Northern cod stock in 1992. Lobster landings have been at record levels in recent years, but landings of practically every other species have been in steady decline.
Because of recent announcements, landings are likely ...
