Bad News Month
P.E.I. Fishermen Slapped With Two Tough Decisions in May on the Lobster and Halibut Fronts
Just when things were starting to look a little rosy for fishermen in Prince Edward Island the other proverbial shoe dropped in May.
Within the span of a month, the Island’s fishing industry received a triple-barreled blast of bad news in the form of a clawback of halibut quota gained last year, the return of a quota allocation system for the same species that the Maritime provinces consider unfair ...
Ministerial Problem?
P.E.I. Fishermen Want Their Own Provincial Department With Dedicated Minister
On Prince Edward Island there is a holy trinity of industries that feed almost all others.
The big three are fishing, farming and tourism.
Together these industries represent a huge portion of the province’s economy and support thousands of jobs and tens of thousands of people.
Which is why when there’s a shakeup in leadership in two out of the three industries, it’s a big concern to a lot of people. ...
P.E.I. Fishermen Organize Recruitment Drive for Lobster Season Help
Are you crew?
If so, P.E.I. fishermen want to know.
Only they spell it like this: R U Crew.
Either way, if you’ve ever thought about working as a hand on a fishing boat then the P.E.I. Fishermen’s Association might have a job waiting in the wings for you.
The association, which represents most of the province’s lobster harvesters, recently rolled out a recruitment drive looking for people willing to work in the fishery. They dubbed the pilot program R U Crew.
Such measures ...
Ten-Year-Old Tuna Master Beats Own Record
Koen Norton has another record breaker on his hands.
The 10-year-old, Montague, Prince Edward Island boy set out this past tuna season to set a world record in his age category and by all accounts he succeeded, landing a 486-pound bluefin tuna in early August off Naufrage Harbour in Eastern P.E.I.
Well, Koen wasn’t quite satisfied with his catch, so he and his father Greg set out for one more attempt at an even bigger record catch.
He ended up smashing his own record by reeling in an ...
Larval Science: Scientists Trying to Predict Climate Change Impact on Baby Lobsters
They say that no visit to Atlantic Canada is complete without a traditional feed of lobster.
Few grow up here without having at least some experience with handling the delicious, if prickly, crustaceans. The species and the harvesting thereof, is part of the fabric of life in the region.
But before they’re hauled up from the ocean floor for a date with a diner plate, Atlantic lobsters have to survive almost unfathomable odds in order to reach adulthood.
It is in the measuring of ...
Signs Point to Positive: Harvesters Hopeful for Strong Spring Lobster Fishery in P.E.I.
By mid-April 2015 some Prince Edward Island fishermen were so anxious about the unusual ice conditions in their harbours that many grabbed their chainsaws and started trying to clear up the blockages themselves.
In the end, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) decided to delay the spring lobster season from its usual April 30 start date in the hopes that the ice would clear out naturally. The season officially opened several days later and was extended at the tail end of the season ...
Salt of the Island Sea: P.E.I. Company Hoping to Turn Artisanal Salt Into Burgeoning Industry
From the original Mi’kmaq First Nation inhabitants, to the French and British Empire colonists and their descendants, the people of Prince Edward Island have always relied on the sea to provide for their families.
Over the years, Islanders have found new and ingenious ways of reaping the bounty of the ocean.
Now one Charlottetown company is looking to the sea itself to apply some of that same old fashioned ingenuity.
The Prince Edward Island Sea Salt Co. is a new venture by an ...
Work Rewarded: Roger Sark Honoured by Atlantic First Nations Chiefs for Fisheries Work
Roger Sark received a surprising phone call recently.
He was informed that he was to be honoured by the Atlantic Policy Congress of First Nations Chiefs as the 2015 Fisheries Business Person of the Year.
It's not something he was expecting, but it’s welcome all the same, Sark said.
“I was thrilled,” he said.
“It's always great to be recognized for the work you do amongst your peers in the industry. I was quite happy.”
“It was a learning process for me, every step ...
Back in Business in Brudenell: Mothballed Lobster Plant Given Renewed Life Under New Owners
There is growing excitement in eastern Prince Edward Island regarding the fate of a shuttered fish processing plant.
The facility is in the community of Brudenell and was formerly operated by Mariner Seafoods. At its peak, it employed more than 300 people processing fish and at one point vegetables.
But the global recession hit the facility hard and its owners did not renew their lease in 2013.
However, a new owner has taken the facility under its wing and is gearing up to reopen in ...
A Call to Action: P.E.I. Groups Join National Call to Improve Rights for Temporary Foreign Workers
The thought of being legally tied to an employer is borderline laughable for the average Canadian.
Citizens and residents of Canada are free to quit and take jobs as easily as switching hats — if they can get them.
But not everyone living in our society is so fortunate.
People working in this country under the federal temporary foreign worker program, and its various sub-programs, are largely tied to the employer to whom they are hired and approved to work for under the program. If, ...
