The lobster season in Prince Edward Island has gotten off to a slow start, with whale sightings and low wharf prices adding to harvesters’ troubles.
According to the Prince Edward Island Fishermen’s Association (PEIFA), setting day for the lobster fishery kicked off with great weather. The weather soon turned on P.E.I. fishermen, however.
“It has been a windy start to the season, keeping fishers off the water, in some cases,” said PEIFA in a statement to The Navigator. “The water temperature also continues to run colder than normal which can have an impact on lobster movement and trapping.”
A bit of wind was the least of lobster harvesters’ concerns, however, when a North Atlantic right whale was detected. As of May 18, a section of LFA 24 between 10 and 20 fathoms was closed off to harvesters in the area for a 15-day period, forcing those in the closure area to fish inside the 10-fathom line. If another sighting is logged by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), a subsequent 15-day closure will be enacted.
Charlie McGeoghegan, the board chair of Lobster Fishers of Prince Edward Island Marketing Board, said that harvesters in Northwest P.E.I. have been greatly affected, having lost out on a quarter of the short two-month season.
“It affected probably 400 fishermen in the western part of the north side of P.E.I.,” said McGeoghegan. “The catches were just coming on in that area in like 80 feet of water and they had to move all their gear out of it and go inside of 60 feet. When you take 400 boats and put them all in a little narrow between the shoreline and 60 feet of water, it’s over-congested with gear and they just pick up the lobsters that much quicker that are in that area.”
McGeoghegan said that to his knowledge, there hasn’t been any incident of a right whale being entangled in lobster gear. Between the adoption of whale-safe, lower-breaking-strength lines and identifying markers on gear, harvesters have done their part in abiding by whale regulations. He thinks that the regulation surrounding right whales should be revisited by DFO.
“This is a billion-dollar industry on P.E.I., and it’s being played with like a board game by DFO and it’s not right,” said McGeoghegan.
“We need some proof before they start costing people hundreds of thousands of dollars out of their very short season.”
Harvesters are seeing around $7–7.50 per pound at the wharf, currently. McGeoghegan said that with the demand for lobster in both China and the United States, harvesters should be seeing around $3 more per pound than they’re seeing right now.
“The day before the season, the price was $13.50 on the mainland. They opened it at $7.50 and $8 and then shortly after that some buyers dropped to $6.50. It seemed to settle out about $7 or $7.50 range,” said McGeoghegan. “There is absolutely zero lobster in inventory — both live and processed — coming into our season.”
Jerry Gavin, the executive director of the P.E.I. Seafood Processors Association, said that as landings began to pick up, things have gone smoothly from a processor’s perspective.
“The landings have been pretty good, at least in LFA 24,” said Gavin. “I know in LFA 26A the landings were low, but I think they’ve picked up now. So, from a processor’s point of view, we’ve had no issues being able to process the landings.”
However, Gavin said that market conditions in the United States and Europe have raised some cause for concern amongst P.E.I. processors.
“We sell a lot of in-shell product to Europe and there’s still a fair amount in inventory over there, so that was a bit of a surprise,” said Gavin. “Overall, there’s a lot of apprehension. A lot of it has to do with what’s going on in the U.S. If they go into a recession, lobster is more of a luxury item. So, when people have to cut back, they normally cut back on lobster consumption. That’s certainly a concern we have, but we’re just going to have to wait and see how it all plays out.”
