Start of N.S. lobster season delayed
Lobster fishing season in southwestern Nova Scotia will be off to a late start this year after officials postponed the day that fishermen were slated to drop their traps also known as “dumping day.”
The season was supposed to kick off on Monday, but Fisheries and Oceans spokeswoman Debbie Buott-Matheson said based on forecasted weather, the industry associations representing lobster fishing areas 33 and 34 decided in a Saturday morning conference call that it would be too risky to proceed as planned.
“The marine forecast tends to be a bit different than the forecast on land, so, generally speaking, if they decide to delay the opening, they’re usually looking at very heavy or high winds,” she said, listing unsettled waters and high waves as possibilities.
Buott-Matheson said when wind is forecasted to be above 26 knots on the water, the associations generally make the decision to not open the season that day.
She said the weather protocol has been around for about 20 years.
“While no one likes to see a delay, they always take the best decision in terms of safety,” she said.
Lobster fishing area 33 extends from the Halifax region to Nova Scotia’s southwestern tip, and 34 extends off the province’s western edge.
They make up one of Canada’s most lucrative lobster fisheries: the landed value for the 39,200 tonnes caught in the fishing zones in 2015 was $567 million - a record for the industry.
In 2016, the areas hauled in $494 million of the $1.3 billion generated by the entire Canadian lobster fishing industry.