Boom Times in the Eastern Gulf Snow Crab Fishery
Snow crab fishermen in Atlantic Canada are receiving record prices for their catches this spring.
“It certainly has reached a level we have never seen before,” said Osborne Burke, general manager at Victoria Cooperative Fisheries in Cape Breton.
“If someone said to me in March the price was going to be $4.50, $5/pound, I would have said yes. If someone said it was going to be $8/pound, I would have said they were crazy.”
For Cape Breton fishermen, the snow crab fishery opened ...
LFA 33, 34 Season Closes with Strong Prices
Above: Lonnie Snow Photo
There was a strong shore price right to the end of the six-month commercial lobster fishery in Nova Scotia lobster fishing areas (LFA) 33 and 34.
The season closed on May 31 with fishermen fetching between $8 and $8.25/pound for their catch.
Since the season opened, shore prices have been solid in LFAs 33 and 34. An opening shore price of $7 to $7.25 soon went to $8/pound where it stayed until late January. From there it climbed to a high of $15, ...
Where Does the Fishery Fit into the Blue Economy?
As the majority of the country grapples with the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ‘business’ of government continues, albeit in a primarily small screen, virtual form.
While the federal government’s priority understandably continues to be virus containment and vaccine rollout, other policy platforms are being unveiled, largely without the media attention and spotlight they would receive in a normal news cycle.
One such platform that emerged earlier this year was the Govern...
The Twine Loft – June 2021
Passed On: Seth Monahan – Elsipogtog First Nation, fisherman
Monahan, 39, tragically passed away on April 3. He lost his life when the FV Tyhawk capsized and sank while fishing snow crab 16 miles off Cheticamp, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Born in Presque Isle, Maine on December 9, 1981, he was the son of Jonathan Monahan of Woodland and Caroline Pauline Young of Metepenagiag Mi’kmaq Nation, N.B. He was employed at Hannaford Brothers in Portland, Maine for several years before moving to ...
On the Waterfront – June 2021
Fisheries Agreement Reached Between Government of Canada and Listuguj Mi’gmaq Government
On April 18, the Canadian Federal Government and the Listuguj Mi’gmaq Government announced that they have agreed to a landmark plan to advance reconciliation in the fisheries.
The five-year renewable Rights Reconciliation Agreement on Fisheries addresses areas of mutual interest and will help foster improved relationships with, and outcomes for, the Listuguj Mi’gmaq community by:
Upholding ...
Regulations on Who Can Fish Need to Change
Most people have the impression and understandably so, that it is the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) that controls who gets to go commercial fishing in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Actually, it is the Professional Fish Harvesters Certification Board (PFHCB) — with rules enacted in legislation by the provincial government.
In that regard, I would like to use the medium of your magazine to suggest to the Newfoundland and Labrador Minister of Fisheries to take a look at current ...
A Good Luck Story
On Tuesday, March 2, 2021, a mayday was sent out from the M.V. Atlantic Destiny, with a crew of 32 on board, that the vessel was on fire.
As any mariner knows, fire is the worst thing that can happen at sea. Sometimes it doesn’t give you time to get your life jackets or survival suits on, or get a lifeboat launched. Add eight-metre seas (24 feet) and 55 knot winds (100 km/h) and you are in the worst possible situation anyone on the water can imagine.
These past 12 months have seen a lot ...
Capelin Fishery “Pause” Not Necessary
Seafood producers (harvesters and processors) respect and value the work of the researchers and scientists at Fisheries and Oceans Canada, who play an essential role in keeping our fisheries sustainable.
However, in capelin and many other fisheries, a present state of alarmism simply overrides harvesters and processors’ input, dismissing generations’ worth of lived experience.
Last year, capelin was a very small fishery of 16,000 tonnes. Activists argue with apparent moral certainty ...
The Capelin Conundrum
Capelin are almost as controversial, in fishery circles, as they are essential in Newfoundland and Labrador’s marine food chain.
The call in March by WWF-Canada, Oceana and the NunatuKavut Council for a ban on the capelin fishery and the vigorous responses from the FFAW and the Association of Seafood Processors, highlight the need for a solution that everyone involved would be able to live with.
On the one hand, WWF and Oceana recommend we stop fishing the capelin stocks, whose numbers ...
The Flawed Plan to Rebuild Canada’s Iconic Northern Cod
Editor’s Note: This commentary was originally published by Policy Options on March 22, 2021.
Canada is on the cusp of an inauspicious anniversary.
Next year will mark 30 years since Newfoundland’s 500-year-old Northern cod fishery was shut down. The fishery was closed on July 2, 1992 because of a massive decline in the cod population, as much as 95 per cent, between the early 1960s and the early 1990s.
The socioeconomic consequences were staggering: 30,000 to 40,000 jobs ...
