Wedgeport Tuna Tournament and Festival Back on Deck
Above photo: Samples of bluefin tuna are graded before being shipped to market at the Wedgeport Tuna Festival and Tournament weigh-in. Kathy Johnson photos
The fishing was fine at the 17th annual Wedgeport Tuna Tournament and Festival on Aug. 21 to 28 with a total of 69 tuna landed, tipping the scales at a total of 12,255 pounds.
Each of the 16 fishing vessels that took part in this year’s tournament tagged a bluefin tuna (6,981 pounds). A total of 35 big eye (4,731 ...
Yarmouth Shark Scramble Continues to Provide Valuable Scientific Data
The Yarmouth Shark Scramble was back on deck, COVID-19 style, for 2021, attracting 14 boats and 115 participants for the 23rd annual tournament that ran from Aug. 18 to 21.
Each boat was allowed to land three blue sharks of a minimum length of eight feet. Smaller blue sharks caught were tagged and released.
“It was a good all-around tournament,” said Bob Gavel, Scramble co-founder. “The fishermen were extremely happy to be going… We had a good response on sponsorships. Without the ...
“There’s No Doubt in my Mind There was Divine Intervention”
Local Man Saves Mother and Child from Drowning in Yarmouth Harbour
Sometimes there’s no logical explanation for the way things happen.
Just ask Yarmouth TriNav marine broker Dave Bishara.
Bishara’s story starts on a sunny Sunday in August, Aug. 15 to be precise. Bishara and his wife Nancy were at a little place they have on Yarmouth Bar they call the buoy wall because it is where Dave displays his collection of buoys.
“I was painting some buoys and she was ...
Optimism Surrounding Opening of LFA 35 Fishery
A solid shore price and a quality catch are expected when the lobster fishing area (LFA) 35 fishery opens on Oct. 14 in the Bay of Fundy.
There’s a lot of anticipation around a really high price,” said Colin Sproul, president of the Bay of Fundy Inshore Fishermen’s Association.
“We’ve seen tonnes of indication there’s an insatiable demand for lobster and snow crab both in China and Asia right now and there’s a big indication that our lobster coming on the market at that ...
Moderate Livelihood Fishery Dispute Headed to the Courts
Although a lot has happened, fundamentally not much has changed in the past year since First Nations in Nova Scotia have sought to exercise their treaty right under the Marshall Decision to earn a moderate livelihood.
“We were on a call to the deputy minister (DFO) last week. Our message to the deputy was the same as it was last year and their message back to us was the same,” said Colin Sproul, president of the Unified Fisheries Conservation Alliance (UFCA), an alliance of commercial ...
Record-Setting Lobster Prices Continuing into Fall on P.E.I.
With record shore prices, strong landings and available plant labour until the end of the season, the lobster fishery has been a good news story on P.E.I. in 2021.
With more than a month to go in the LFA 25 fishery which closes Oct. 10, “landings have been holding strong,” said Molly Aylward, the new executive director of the P.E.I. Fishermen’s Association (PEIFA).
In early September, fishermen were fetching $8 to $8.50/pound for canners and $9 to $9.50 for market size. The price is ...
Seafood Inflation May Be Less Than Meets the Eye
In the past couple of months, several news stories have highlighted the difficulty some restaurants are having coping with higher seafood prices.
“Very few products are not going up in price,” Santa Monica Seafood President and CEO Roger O’Brien told SeafoodSource recently.
The price inflation in the distributor, processor and food service operators’ sales to foodservice customers alone was a “whopping 29 per cent” in June, O’Brien said.
This surge was a result of a ...
Are Right Whales Impacting Consumer Lobster Purchases?
As a few innovative Nova Scotia companies forge ahead with efforts to develop new ropeless fishing technologies, the presence of right whales continues to be a concern for area lobster fishermen and the industry in general.
While the majority of Atlantic right whale sightings in Canadian waters and subsequent fishing closures have taken place to the north in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, lobster fishermen are still worried about an upsurge in the lobbying effort to further protect the endangered ...
Fight for the Fishery or Flee the Province
If you could save and safeguard hundreds of communities in Newfoundland and Labrador, would you make that effort?
Would you make the attempt, especially, if it involved immersing yourself in understanding our fishery, past, present and future and perhaps even engaging in a fish fight?
That’s the question the Fishery Community Alliance (FCA) has been posing to endless politicians, both provincially, federally and most recently to the municipalities of Newfoundland and Labrador.
The ...
When Someone Shows You Who They Really Are, Believe Them
In this federal election, more than ever before, everyone in our coastal communities need to get out and vote.
Especially fishers and all those that depend on a vibrant, prosperous and safe fishing industry, principally in the South Shore St. Margaret’s electoral district.
Given some of their poll locations, especially in Shelburne County (from Barrington, Cape Sable Island, Shag Harbour, Bear Point, Woods Harbour to Forbes Point), the lobster fishing capital of Canada, they barely had ...
