Professional Fishermen Working Together is the motto of the Grand Manan Fishermen’s Association, which is marking its’ 39th year in 2020.
“Owner/operator, that is the cornerstone of our organization,” said Melanie Sonnenberg, executive director in an interview.
“That’s how we started,” adding the association continues to have a very strong voice on the topic “making sure the government realizes the importance of an owner/operator fishery and how the benefit is far greater to the community than what you see from a corporate fishery.”
The organization was started on a multi-fisheries concept, said Sonnenberg. “We’ve always had members with more than one licence,” she said.
“Most fishermen have two or three to keep them going all year. Here on Grand Manan, we have the potential and do fish 12 months of the year,” which is not the case everywhere.
Scallops, lobster, a strong longline groundfish fishery, a herring weir fishery and sea urchins are among the traditional species harvested by fishermen on Grand Manan.
“The fishery is the big economic driver,” said Sonnenberg. “We have an aquaculture industry as well, but the fishery is the big driver. If the fishery is doing well, the community is doing well. It makes the community vibrant and keeps us ticking.”
This winter, Grand Manan fishermen were readying for the mid-bay scallop fishery which was scheduled to open on Jan. 14.
“We have quite a number of guys that participate in that fishery,” said Sonnenberg. “We put a fair bit of time and effort working with DFO making sure the plan is reasonable and is accessible to the fishermen so it’s not too constraining.”
The lobster fishery is also underway throughout the winter in LFA 38 and in the grey zone which is shared with American fishers.
So far, there “are no apparent impacts to the industry at this point” with seafood giant Connors Bros. in nearby Blacks Harbour filing for creditor protection last fall, said Sonnenberg.
“It’s business as usual for them. There’s a buyer waiting in the wings, so we’ll wait to see how that turns out and what transpires.”
