day : 01/08/2019 19 results

Government Committee Releases Report on Climate Change Impacts to Lobster and Snow Crab

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans recently released a report related to its study of the migration of lobster and snow crab in Atlantic Canada and the impact of climate change on carapace size. The report entitled In Hot Water — Lobster and Snow Crab in Eastern Canada, included 10 recommendations, which focused on the need for more research (climate and economic impacts in particular), as well as the need to collaborate with harvesters (i.e. to advance ...

Wooden Boat Museum Unveils New Exhibit

The Wooden Boat Museum of Newfoundland and Labrador in Winterton recently unveiled a new exhibit, entitled Evolving Traditions: People, Place and Wooden Boats. The new exhibit is a representation of Newfoundland and Labrador’s diverse boatbuilding heritage and provides a window into the character of the people and the places they belong. The popular Trinity Bay museum underwent an interior makeover over the winter involving the installation of the new exhibit, as well, changes were ...

A Monster Exhibit: Model of Record Catch to be Unveiled at Yarmouth Shark Scramble

Above photo: Yarmouth Shark Scramble co-founder Bob Gavel poses with the record-setting short-fin mako shark when it was landed in 2004. A life-size replica of the mako will soon be on display on the Yarmouth waterfront at Rudder’s Wharf, home of the tournament. Contributed photo. A life-sized replica of the record-setting mako shark caught during the 2004 Yarmouth Shark Scramble will soon be on display at Rudder’s Wharf on the Yarmouth waterfront. “We just ordered it yesterda...

Dalhousie Conducting Oil Spill Research

Risk assessments of potential oil spills in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and improving strategies for oil and water separation (oil decanting) are the focus of two research projects being conducted by Dalhousie University in Halifax. The projects are being funded under the Multi-Partner Research Initiative of the Ocean Protection Plan. “Through the Multi-Partner Research Initiative, our government is fostering scientific knowledge to help protect our waters and coasts from oil spills ...

Under the Surface: Ocean Noise and its Effect on Marine Life

Dr. Jack Lawson was about 10 years old when he watched Jacques Cousteau television documentaries and decided he wanted to work with marine mammals. “Ever since I was a kid, I used to watch Jacques Cousteau on TV. He would often show something on some diving adventure, and I developed an interest in whales from that.” While Lawson was finishing his undergraduate degree in Alberta, the head of the department, who knew Jack was going to Arizona to undertake a Ph.D. studying scorpions, ...

Lobster Council of Canada Marks 10 Years

Now in its 10th year of operation, the Lobster Council of Canada (LCC) “has evolved to be a self-funding lobster sector organization that represents the entire value chain from the wharf to the market,” says executive director Geoff Irvine. “Over the past decade we have taken significant steps to improve the way the lobster sector works together and raise the value of the lobster resource for all,” said Irvine, who has been at the helm as executive director since day one. Irvine ...

LCC Submits Funding Proposal for Three-Year Marketing Strategy

The Lobster Council of Canada (LCC) has developed a three-pronged, three-year lobster marketing strategy it hopes is going to be a fit for the funding criteria of the Canadian Fish and Seafood Opportunities Fund (CFSOF). “The market for premium protein is complicated and intense around the world,” said Geoff Irvine, executive director of the LCC. “Canada has a strong brand position and we must take advantage of this to expand and diversify our market to ensure we return the maximum ...

Providing No More

“It was totally bizarre.” That was the way veteran Canso fisherman Billy Bond described it. And, his sentiments, more or less, sum up the feelings of the fishermen and most other people in Canso, Nova Scotia, when talking about the loss of the Fisherman’s Provider II and especially the death of the vessel’s captain, Roger Stoddard. Owned by Fishermen’s Market International Inc., the 43-foot fibreglass fishing vessel was docked at the company’s wharf in Canso, located on the ...

Hail-out Requirement Removed From At-Sea Data Collection Program

At-sea data collection in the southwestern Nova Scotia lobster fishery will be continuing next season, but gone will be the hail-out requirement that was part of the program delivery last season. “The decision to remove the hail-out requirement as part of at-sea data collection for LFAs 33, 34 and 35 for the 2019-2020 fishing season was made based on feedback from harvesters and at-sea observer companies, and in consultation with First Nations,” said the Department of Fisheries and ...

Northern Cod Stewardship Fishery Receives 30 Per Cent Increase

The soap opera that is the 2J3KL cod fishery continues. Last year, after several years of cautious growth, the commercial Northern cod catch limits were reduced by 25 per cent to under 10,000 tonnes by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO). The reduction did not come as a real shock to anyone following DFO’s earlier 2018 announcement that 2J3KL cod had experienced a 29 per cent single-year decline in spawning stock biomass (SSB). Last year, the 29 per cent single-year decline ...