Crossing their fingers
The first lobsters of the 2017 season will be hauled in today
P.E.I. Lobster fishermen will be crossing their fingers as they head out onto the waters this morning for the first landing day of the 2017 fishery.
The fishery opened on Saturday as thousands of fishermen hit the waters to set their traps.
Longtime fisherman, Norman Peters, also known as the Bearded Skipper, went out from North Rustico Saturday on his boat Silver Wave with his brother, Keith, and son, Corey.
Peters, who has been fishing for more than 55 years, said the day went well, although it was impossible to tell what the landings will be like.
Like many others, Peters was remaining cautiously optimistic.
“We’ll have to wait and see,” said the 75-year-old Peters. “No doubt there’s going to be lobster, a pound or two to a trap would be nice, but whatever we get, we get.”
Although today will see the first landings, some fishermen got somewhat of an early indicator after hauling up a couple traps on Saturday just a few hours after setting them.
Although those early catches looked good, Peters said it’s still hard to put a finger on since they were only in the water for a short time.
“I heard one fella hauled up a number of traps and he had 100 pounds or something like that,” said Peters.
“But it’s hard to tell on the first day, you might have landed on top of a bunch of hungry lobster.”
Traps are traditionally set on the last day of April, but were set one day earlier this year since it fell on a Sunday.
There are two lobster seasons on P.E.I. The first runs from May until the end of June, while the second runs from August to October.
Robert Jenkins, president of the P.E.I. Fishermen’s Association, said Saturday saw “excellent conditions” for setting and that he hadn’t heard of any complications.
“The weather co-operated, there was a little bit of fog early in the morning but it co-operated pretty good and there were no wind issues,” he said.
Jenkins had also hauled up few traps to “have a look.”
“But it’s still hard to tell what it will look like (for the rest of the season) when they’re only out for two or three hours,” said Jenkins.
Apart from the size of catches, fishermen are also uncertain of what price tag lobster will land this year.
Peters said he had heard rumours of buyers in North Lake on Saturday who had offered around $7 or $8 per pound.
“I don’t know if that’s just a rumour, it would be wonderful if we could get a spring like that going,” said Peters.
Last year saw fishermen get an average of $6.50 to $6.75 a pound for lobster.