N.S. fishermen’s association wants carapace size increase
For over two years, the local Northumberland Fishermen’s Association has been wanting an increase in lobster carapace size from the Minister of Fisheries and for two years they’ve waited for an answer.
“They’re dragging their feet,” says association president Ron Heighton.
In early 2015, the association met with Fisheries and Oceans and other fishing organizations to discuss and agree to potential changes to the lobster industry in order to increase the carapace size within a two-year window.
At that time, a ballot vote was distributed among all the lobster fishers in fishing area 26A in Nova Scotia, with the majority voting for an increase in carapace size.
The carapace is the part of the body between the lobster’s eyes and its tail. Fishermen who catch undersized lobster have to throw them back.
Two years later, there has been no decision reached by Fisheries and Oceans about implementing a size increase for the upcoming lobster season, Heighton said.
“It’s disappointing when you’re trying to better yourself and better your industry and you’re being held back by bureaucracy,” he said.
In May 2016, Fisheries and Oceans Canada issued a notice informing harvesters there would be a size increase of 5mm over the next three years for the western half of the Northumberland Strait for fishing area 25A – however, no notice has been provided to those fishing from 26A. LFA 26A area includes the southeastern part of Northumberland Strait between Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.
In the past, the lobster industry benefited from increasing the carapace size. The incentive behind increasing the carapace size includes conservation benefits, by allowing more female lobsters to reproduce. Heighton and others believe that increasing carapace size will foster a more sustainable fishery.
Fishermen in Prince Edward Island tend to be opposed to the idea, Heighton said. He believes Fisheries and Oceans thinks they have to split the zone to somehow keep both happy.
Heighton said the difference of opinion on the size of lobster harvested depends a lot on perspective. “Some people see the glass half-empty.”
He personally believes that any loss from the first year of throwing smaller lobster back would be rewarded in the second year with bigger lobster and a healthier supply because more of the lobsters would have a chance to reach sexual maturity before they were allowed to be captured. With the size limits right now, only about 50 per cent of the lobsters are sexually mature, Heighton explained. If they made the changes proposed, three-quarters would be sexually mature and would be more likely to produce offspring before ending up on a dinner plate.
“There’s no down side to it.”