Lobster fishing curfew on PCFA meeting agenda

Votes to be counted later this week

The results of a Prince County Fishermen Association’s recent mail-in survey will be released during the association’s annual meeting on Jan. 21.

Fall lobster fishermen were asked to provide their views on whether to accept a Maritime Fishermen’s Association proposal of limiting lobster fishing trips in Lobster Fishing Area 25 to between four in the morning and nine o’clock at night, or to fish with no curfew at all, as is currently permitted.

PCFA president Lee Knox anticipates strong interest from membership on the result. The deadline for fishermen to submit their views was Friday, Jan. 11.

Knox said he does not know the rate of return nor does he know the results. The votes will be counted later this week, but not presented to the membership until the annual meeting which will get underway at the O’Leary Legion at 9:30 a.m. on Monday. Although he is anticipating some discussion on whatever the outcome of the survey is, Knox believes the survey result will be the direction his association will take.

There’s already a fishing curfew in place in LFA 23 in New Brunswick.

Curfew was due to be up for discussion at last month’s Southern Gulf Lobster Advisory meetings in Moncton, but Knox said it didn’t go anyplace.

“It wasn’t discussed a lot, because I didn’t know where we stood. We put that discussion off until we hear back from our fishermen.”

The PCFA held a meeting in O’Leary on Nov. 28 to discuss a Maritime Fishermen’s Union proposal that would prohibit fishermen from starting their lobster fishing trips form their home ports before 4 a.m., and would require them to be back in port by 9 a.m. It was decided during that meeting to survey the membership.

Species reports, including the current decline in the mackerel fishery and a four-week fishery for scallops, as well as a discussion on regulations dealing with the protection of endangered North Atlantic right whales, are on the agenda for the annual meeting.