Lobster Outlook 2018

tricountyvanguard.ca

FOR THE WEEK OF WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2018

MUSTreads

n LOBSTER SEASON

Safety is key

Assets lined up for dumping day when season opens.

A2

Ropeless gear

Testing the waters with ropeless gear.

A6

An interesting life

A retired fisherman looks back on decades on fishing.

A8

TINA COMEAU PHOTO

In the isolation of darkness coupled with the bitter cold, fishermen head off to sea at 6 a.m. last year from the wharf in Pinkney’s Point, Yarmouth County, on dumping day, marking the start of the LFA 34 and 33 lobster seasons. This photo won the award for Best News Photo in last year’s Newspapers Atlantic competition for community newspapers in Atlantic Canada.

Past starts

The opening price in 1966 fell between 65 cents and $1.

A look back at season openings over the decades.

A10 & A11

Here we go again 5

Lobster fishing in southwestern Nova Scotia opens next week TINA COMEAU TRICOUNTY VANGUARD

things

REGIONAL

A day at the office

See life on the sea through the eyes of a fisherman who is also a photographer.

A14

Keep ‘em fed

Fuelling the bellies of fishermen.

B1

Are you ready?

Man overboard drills put emphasis on safety.

B3

YOU SAID IT

“I HOPE THEY FELT HALF THE PRIDE I FELT.”

Fisherman Todd Newell looking back at last year’s Live Well Challenge. B12

The largest commercial lobster season in the region, the province and the country gets underway next week in southwestern Nova Scotia and along the province’s south shore with the opening of the LFA 34 and 33 lobster fisheries.

LFA (Lobster Fishing Area) 34 includes all of Yarmouth County and parts of Shelburne and Digby counties. LFA 33 picks up in Shelburne County and extends to Halifax County.

Aboard boats leaving from wharfs at the opening of their seasons will be more than 5,000 fishermen, which includes extra crewmembers that are hired for the opening weeks of the season.

There are around 1,678 lobster licences amongst these two LFAs. According to preliminary figures from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, during the 2017-2018 season, LFA 33/34 licence holders recorded landings of 31,863 tonnes, generating a landed value of approximately $502 million. DFO says last season is expected to be confirmed as the second largest landed value on record.

In 2017-2018, 60 per cent of the total inshore lobster landings in the Maritimes Region were from LFAs 33 and 34.

The economic importance of the lobster fishery to the region cannot be overstated. Reference to the landed value of the fishery was met with applause at the recent Yarmouth and Area Chamber of Commerce’s annual business awards where the importance of the lobster industry

TO KNOW

fishing areas (LFAs) 1 Lobster 34 and 33 combined make up

2 3 4 5

the largest commercial lobster fishing in the region, the province and the country.

Around 5,000 fishermen will be on boats when the season opens.

Numerous search and rescue assets will be deployed on the water and in the air on dumping day as safety is a top priority.

DFO says last year lobster landings in the LFAs 34 and 33 generated a landed value of approximately $502 million.

The season runs from the last Monday of November, weather permitting, to May 31.

was highlighted.

Boats fishing in LFA 34 are permitted to set 375 lobster traps at the start of the season. Given this, safety is of the upmost priority as the season gets underway and boats head to the fishing grounds heavily laden with traps and gear. As a story on page A2 of this Lobster Outlook points out, a full complement of search and rescue (SAR) resources will be on the water and on standby when the commercial lobster fishery in LFAs 33 and 34 opens.

“We’re in the business of planning for the worst and hoping for the best,” says Marc Ouellette, Canadian Coast Guard Regional Supervisor for Maritime Search and Rescue at the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) in Halifax.

While the season is slated to start the last Monday of Novem-

ber – which this year falls on Nov 26 – ultimately it is the weather that will dictate when dumping day happens. Years ago DFO and the LFA 34 industry advisory committee put in place an opening day protocol that dictates any winds forecasted above 25 knots will automatically trigger a postponement to the opening of the season.

There will be DFO-industry conference calls this weekend to monitor the upcoming forecast to determine if the season will open as planned or whether a delay will be required. In the past two years winds have delayed the opening of the season by a day.

A change to the lobster fishing season this year is the introduction by DFO of bycatch monitoring. Heading into the season fishermen had the choice of using the bycatch monitoring system set up by DFO or joining an alternate three-year bycatch monitoring pilot project offered by the Southwest Lobster Science Society – which is a collaborative industry-led effort of the Bay of Fundy Inshore Fishermen’s Association, Brazil Rock 33/34 Lobster Association, Coldwater Lobster Association, the Maritime Fishermen’s Union Local 9 and the Scotia Fundy Inshore Fishermen’s Association.

On the market front the United States remains the region’s largest live export market. China is an example of a continuing growing market for lobster exports.

Leading seafood export John Sackton calls the Canadian lobster growth in the Chinese market “quite remarkable.”

At a fall lobster forum held in Yarmouth, Sackton noted China accounts for 37 per cent of global seafood consumption and is a

market that is projected to grow rapidly, more so than any other place in the world.

“So China is really going to become very, very dominant to the global seafood industry,” he said.

The lobster fishery in LFAs 34 and 33 is managed by effort control, which includes limits to the number of traps, licences and fishing days, and includes many measures to address conservation. Some of these conservation measures include a minimum lobster carapace size of 82.5 mm (3.25 inches), escape mechanisms in traps that enable undersized lobsters to exit traps and a rule requiring the release of all female lobsters bearing eggs.

Price-wise last year, the season shore price opened at $5.75, rose to $7.25 by early January, peaked at $13 in March, and closed in the $6.50 range in most places.

The LFA 35 season in Digby and the upper Bay of Fundy got underway in mid-October. Earlier this month the shore price there was $8 a pound. Better yet, some involved with the industry were describing the quality of the lobster being landed as “off the charts.”

The LFA 34 and 33 seasons run to May 31.

A note from our newsroom As the 2017-2018 start of the lobster season in southwestern Nova Scotia approaches, all of us at the Tri-County Vanguard and SaltWire Network want to wish fishermen a safe and prosperous season.

In this lobster fishing outlook publication we present a variety of stories dealing with the industry, including its importance, its impact, its issues and its interesting facts.

A2

LOBSTER OUTLOOK • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2018

TRICOUNTYVANGUARD.CA

n OPENING DAY

Resources will be in place for season opening KATHY JOHNSON TRICOUNTY VANGUARD REGIONAL

TINA COMEAU PHOTO

A Cormorant helicopter will be one of the many search and rescue assets tasked for the opening of the lobster fishery that is set to get underway next week.

criteria that will determine if they proceed or not so if there is a weather delay, we just push back and maintain resources for the following day or whenever they can go. We maintain that posture until the guys can get out there and do what they need to do.”

Ouellette said it varies hugely from year to year how the season opening goes.

“We’re in the business of planning for the worst and hoping for the best.”

- Marc Ouellette

TINA COMEAU

Deck space is pretty much non-existent as boats are loaded with traps and gear for the opening of the season.

Ouellette. Plans are for two Coast Guard Auxiliary vessels to be on standby on the fishing grounds for the opening.

Ouellette said the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) can also task the fisheries conservation and protection boats that will be out on the water during the opening.

“We monitor their positions and can task them if needed for SAR,” said Ouellette. “Those are just extra resources on the water.”

On the aeronautical side,

Ouellette said JRCC Halifax works closely with the Canadian Air Force, who traditionally task a fixed wing Hercules and a helicopter out of Greenwood for the opening. The chopper will be either on stand-by in Yarmouth waiting for tasking or they’ll be out flying, monitoring and patrolling the area and ready to assist, said Ouellette, adding the same for the Hercules, which will either be on patrol or on 30- minute standby at Greenwood.

Ouellette said most additional SAR assets are maintained for the first two days the JRCC releases them.

“Once the fishermen have set most of their traps, we start standing down assets but keep a heightened posture for the first two days.”

As always, and as mentioned, weather determines when the fishery opens.

“We usually do a weather briefing a few days before the opening,” said Ouellette. “They have

“A great year is when we get very few calls. I know two years ago was a fairly busy year. You never know what your going to get,” he said, adding “safety always needs to be a priority” for fishermen.

One big issue for the Coast Guard is a lot of vessels have unregistered Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRB) “which can delay our response” if they get in trouble said Ouellette. He is urging any fishermen with an unregistered beacon aboard their vessel to get it registered as soon as possible.

Ouellette also encourages fishermen to wear their PFDs when working on the deck.

“To me it makes a lot of sense.

They are just helping themselves by being safe and wearing the proper gear.”

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A full complement of Search and Rescue (SAR) resources will be on the water and standing by when the commercial lobster fishery in LFAs 33 and 34 opens.

“We’re in the business of planning for the worst and hoping for the best,” said Marc Ouellette, Canadian Coast Guard Regional Supervisor for Maritime Search and Rescue at the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) in Halifax.

The season is set to start in Lobster Fishing Areas (LFAs) 33 and 34 on the last Monday of November, weather permitted. If winds are too strong, the opening will be delayed accordingly. The area covered in this commercial fishery includes southwestern Nova Scotia – which takes in all of Yarmouth and Shelburne counties and parts of Digby County, and the entire south shore of province all the way through to Halifax.

Ouellette said there’s a strategy in place for the opening of the LFA 33 and 34 fishery, which is repeated every year without too much modification and is based on the amount of marine traffic and the risk identified through studies of what is high risk for SAR coverage.

The plan includes bringing in second crews to the three small lifeboat stations in Sambro, Clark’s Harbour and Westport to be on stand-by at the station where they will have access to the stations’ zodiacs or fast rescue crafts (FRC) if tasked, and also to assist the first crew who will be out on patrol in the Arun class cutters.

“In Clark’s Harbour we’re expecting to bring in a second cutter with an additional crew, which allows us to run both cutters simultaneously for opening day,” said Ouellette.

In addition, two offshore Coast Guard patrol vessels will be strategically placed on the fishing grounds, one in the western end somewhere not too far off Yarmouth, and the other on the eastern side between Halifax and Clark’s Harbour.

“On top of that we’re taking advantage of the Coast Guard Auxiliary,” said Ouellette. “It’s a great component of the SAR system. We used them last last year and it was a great addition to what we had available for resources.”

Coast Guard Auxiliary members are volunteers and professional fishermen for the most part who know the area very well, said

TRICOUNTYVANGUARD.CA

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2018 •

LOBSTER OUTLOOK

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n OP-ED

Fishing safety must always be at the forefront

LEN WAGG PHOTO

Lobster boats head out during the 2015 dumping day off Cape Forchu near Yarmouth. The largest, longest and most lucrative fishing season starts Nov. 26 in southwestern Nova Scotia.

The following op-ed was written by Labi Kousoulis is Minister of Labour and Advanced Education and Stuart MacLean, CEO of WCB Nova Scotia.

7709121

Fishing is woven into the fabric of Nova Scotia. For as long as people have lived near our shores, many have based their livelihood on the fish and seafood in these waters.

This holds true today.

Thousands of people make their living fishing in Nova Scotia. It is those who take to the water regularly who know the risk all too well.

Sadly, seven Nova Scotians have lost their lives in fishing-related workplace tragedies this year.

Over the past few years, government and WCB Nova Scotia has worked with industry to lessen the risks. Fishing is a safer profession today than it was a generation ago. Technology has helped in many ways – from better weather forecasting, to improved safety equipment designed for working conditions.

However, fishing remains a dangerous and demanding job. The ocean is powerful and unpredictable. The equipment is heavy and dangerous. And it takes strength and stamina to do the job on a boat that heaves and rocks.

It is not, as they say, for the faint of heart.

The industry has many safety champions – and they work tirelessly to improve working conditions for the men and women who earn their living at sea. We want to recognize those who have taken positive steps to improve their own safety and the safety of those aboard their boats.

On Oct. 1, the WCB and Nova Scotia Department of Labour and Advanced Education launched an awareness campaign reminding Nova Scotians of the importance of working safely.

In November, occupational health and safety officers have increased their presence at wharves on the South Shore and the Annapolis Valley to continue to promote safety, and to take action when operators are not in compliance.

We will also continue to promote safety requirements for training and personal protective equipment.

The Fisheries Safety Association of Nova Scotia also provides safety resources and training throughout the province with more scheduled for this fall. The safety association, along with the Nova Scotia Fisheries Sector Council, and numerous fishermen, family members, and public sector representatives continue to meet regularly and work together to implement the recommendations outlined in Fishing Safety Now, the fishing safety plan by and for the industry that was launched in 2015.

Safety must always be a priority. Culture change requires continued effort, increased awareness, and safety programs that make the safe choice an easy one to make – every time.

We need all Nova Scotians to play a role in making workplaces safer.

Everyone deserves to come home safe at the end of the day.

Most importantly, encourage the fishermen in your life to wear their PFD, no matter what.

For more information about fishing safety, including resources and training, visit fisheriessafety.ca.

TINA COMEAU PHOTO

The fishing vessel Sea Hunter leaves the wharf at 6 a.m. on a dumping day morning to go dump its lobster traps at sea. Boats are heavily loaded with traps and gear on the first day of the season.

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LOBSTER OUTLOOK • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2018

TRICOUNTYVANGUARD.CA

n LFA 35 OPENING

Quality ‘off the charts,’ weather less desirable

AMANDA DOUCETTE

The lobster fleet in Digby loaded with gear prior to the Oct. 14 start of the LFA 35 season.

KATHY JOHNSON TRICOUNTY VANGUARD DIGBY

“Off the charts” and “beyond excellent”was the description of lobster quality being used in the first few weeks of the LFA 35 lobster season.

“The quality is off the charts, full-meated and a top-quality hard shell,” said Colin Sproul, spokesman for the Bay of Fundy Inshore Fishermen’s Association, a few weeks into the LFA 35 season that opened Oct. 14 in Digby

“The quality is just off the charts, some of the best I ever seen in the start of the fall.”

Colin Sproul, spokesman, Bay of Fundy Inshore Fishermen’s Association and the upper Bay of Fundy.

“We had an early moult this year, so shells hardened back up before the season opened,” he said. “Our quality is usually a good indicator for LFA 34 as well and the quality is just off the charts, some of the best I ever seen in the start of the fall.”

Lockeport lobster buyer Mike Cotter of Cotter’s Ocean Products Ltd. described the quality of lobster being landed as “beyond excellent.”

But there was a tradeoff. While the quality was excellent, the weather was not. Sproul said the weather in the early weeks of the season was some of the

worst he’d ever seen in his lifetime.

“It’s been one gale of wind after another,” he said, estimating landings were down slightly early on due to the weather. But when fishermen got out they were getting “decent landings,” he said.

The LFA 35 fishery opened with a shore price of $7 a pound, rising to $8 in early November.

“Market conditions have never been better for selling Canadian lobster,” said Sproul.

Cotter agreed, saying, “I think

the markets are going to stay strong. The Americans aren’t going to be able to compete with us price-wise.”

The LFA 35 fishery also opened at $7 last year, while the opening shore price in LFAs 33 and 34 was $6.25.

Cotter estimated this year’s opening price for those LFAs would probably be in the same range as last year, adding it all comes down to supply and demand.

The weather, he said, can be the biggest factor in determining that.

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Wishing a Safe & Prosperous Lobster Season to All!

Wishing All our Lobster Fishermen a Safe & Prosperous Season

TRICOUNTYVANGUARD.CA

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2018 •

LOBSTER OUTLOOK

A5

n WASTE MITIGATION

Fishermen urged to bring waste ashore

5

Ship-to-Shore program began in 2008

things to know

KATHY JOHNSON TRICOUNTY VANGUARD

ABOUT SHIP-TO-SHORE

engaged over 160 fishing 1 Has harbours on waste manage-

REGIONAL

Fishermen are being urged to do their part in keeping the North Atlantic free of debris by bringing all their waste ashore this lobster season, including bait boxes, which otherwise can end up being deadly to marine animals and the ocean floor.

While many fishermen think bait boxes are harmless, that is not the case, said Kirk Symonds, who along with fellow waste diversion co-ordinator Sharon LeBlanc “talked trash” with fishermen at a lobster forum held in Yarmouth this fall.

“Don’t throw anything overboard,” said Symonds, but, in particular, don’t throw bait boxes into the ocean.

“Most bait boxes have a plastic in them. That plastic does not biodegrade,” Symonds said. “The best-case scenario is it turns into smaller bits that makes it easier

2 3 for marine animals and fish to eat it. The worst-case scenario is it covers the bottom floor. Even when people throw cardboard that doesn’t have plastic in it, it creates dead zones by covering the ocean floor.”

For every piece of plastic seen along the shore, “there’s 600 pieces out there floating that we don’t see,” added LeBlanc. “It doesn’t just go away.”

Symonds said he has been working on the issue of marine waste for quite a few years. One issue he said should be an easy fix is to make sure waste is deposited in bins at the wharf.

“If it’s not in a bin, it will end up in the ocean,” he said. “Waste storage is a big problem we see at many harbours.”

LeBlanc added the problem is often compounded by household waste being put in wharf bins, which is another easy fix, considering the area has regular household waste collection that basically takes everything.

LeBlanc there are some freebees allowed at transfer stations where people can bring in waste for free.

“Your waste is your responsibility,” said LeBlanc. “Bringing your waste ashore is not that complex.”

4 5

ment issues and directly engaged over 3,000 fishers.

94% of participating harbours have adopted at least one requirement of waste management.

Has received more than 500 pledges from fishers to endorse the campaign: Garbage.

I Bring It Back.

Has delivered more than 125 boat bins and vessel waste assessments Received the 2012 Mobius Award of Environmental Excellence for Waste Reduction Education Program of the Year

Both Symonds and LeBlanc are involved in the Ship-toShore program, started in 2008 as a grassroots initiative by a group of concerned stakeholders who formed a Marine Waste Management Committee that continues to guide the pro-

gram. Different organizations and Small Craft Harbours are among the stakeholders, said Symonds.

“We’re working towards getting you guys to please think about what you’re doing when you throw that piece overboard,” Symonds said. “Please bring it back.”

Since being started, the Shipto-Shore program has engaged over 160 fishing harbours on waste management issues, directly engaged over 3,000 fishers and received more than 500 pledges from fishers to endorse the campaign: Garbage. I Bring It Back.

A Marine Waste Management Stewardship Toolkit has also been developed, more than 125 boat bins and vessel waste assessments have been delivered, fisher waste management surveys conducted, and a short Ship-to-Shore outreach film launched. The Ship-to-Shore program received the 2012 Mobius Award of Environmental Excellence for Waste Reduction Education Program of the Year.

Best Wishes

for a Safe & Successful Season

We’ll see you when you’re back on shore!

7700099

A6

LOBSTER OUTLOOK • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2018

TRICOUNTYVANGUARD.CA

n ROPELESS GEAR

Testing the waters with ropeless gear KATHY JOHNSON TRICOUNTY VANGUARD REGIONAL

Fisheries innovation was being put to the test earlier this month in southwestern Nova Scotia and the Bay of Fundy with the start of a pilot study on the effectiveness and practicality of ropeless fishing gear technology for the commercial fishing industry.

The Coldwater Lobster Association is partnering with several oceans technology companies to test and evaluate ropeless fishing gear, acoustic receivers and related technology.

If it can be proven to work, ropeless gear could help reduce entanglement issues to the endangered North Atlantic right whale.

Ashored Innovation is one of the companies that have been working on ropeless gear technology, developing a smart buoy that is designed to stay on the ocean floor with the fishing gear, with the capability of being deployed to the surface by fishermen when they are checking their catch.

An onboard system would allow all fishermen to see the plotted buoys and the direction the gear is set to avoid setting over top or dragging through set gear when on the fishing grounds.

“We’re excited about this pilot,” said co-founder and Yarmouth native Maxwell Poole, vice-president of marketing and product development.

“There’s still some work to do but I think we’re going to learn a lot,” Poole said. “Certainly everything is working, but we want to make sure that we are stressing it to the max because working in a vacuum is one thing, working in extreme circumstances is another, so we want to make sure what we are doing is highly tested, highly reliable and meets all the needs of the fishermen as well.”

CONTRIBUTED BY ASHORED INNOVATIONS

The co-founders of Ashored Innovations (from left): Aaron Stevenson (CEO), Ross Arsenault (COO) and Maxwell Poole (VP marketing and product development).

CONTRIBUTED BY ASHORED INNOVATIONS

Ashored Innovations co-founder Maxwell Poole works with a fisherman to put their smart buoy to the test.

Ashored Innovations have six working prototypes they were putting to the test, working on two different vessels in partnership with the Coldwater Lobster Association and a pro-

gram through DFO for scientific licences, said Ross Arsenault, co-founder and COO. The smart buoys were tested on 10 pot trawls.

“There will be quite a few things

we will be looking for,” Arsenault explained. “Initially throwing it off and seeing it deploys properly and retrieving it. We will be trying it at different depths and different pressures and different durations of time. We want to simulate real conditions as much as possible.”

On-deck handling, does it work in the hauler, does it spool on properly, how does it shoot out with a trawl and does it add a lot of steps to the trap-setting process were some of the other factors being looked at during testing, said Poole.

“This is our first kick at the can in the ocean so hopefully we learn a lot from that and then I’m sure there will be many more tests over the coming months, fullblown application testing in real world situations,” he said.

A plotting system called Atlas has been developed by Ashored Innovations to keep track of the

ropeless fishing gear, said Poole.

“Each trap is tagged with a wireless tag that is scanned as the trap shoots off the boat. At that moment the GPS location is recorded and uploaded to a cloud server so is constantly live,” he said. “It automatically detects what was a trawl, what was a single gear and it maps that point to a google maps kinda idea. Right now, we’re just setting it up for testing purposes to use with computers, laptops, iPhones, whatever you have on deck. Eventually we’ll have it so it’s right into your plotter system or whatever you have on board.”

The system will only be accessible when out on the fishing grounds, said Poole. When fishermen go to set gear and want to see if anybody is there with ropeless gear, they will have to make a request and the system pings it and only pings gear in a radius of what can normally be seen on the horizon.

DFO will have the ability of checking for ropeless gear the same as others but they have to be out and about, said Poole.

Arsenault said they have learned a lot from months of talking with fishermen.

“We’re going into this with pretty good confidence,” he said.

“Heading into it, we’re taking into account a lot of the variables we’ve heard are important to fishermen.”

“We really rely on the knowledge of the fishermen,” he added, on such things as what kind of weird scenarios they can find themselves in. “If we can leverage their knowledge and get their opinions throughout the process, it will really help in what may need to change before (going to) market in the next year.”

Arsenault said the goal is to have the smart buoy on the market in late 2019. It is being developed for both the lobster and crab fisheries.

CONTRIBUTED BY ASHORED INNOVATIONS

An image of Ashored Innovations smart buoy.

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TRICOUNTYVANGUARD.CA

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2018 •

LOBSTER OUTLOOK

A7

n INTERNATIONAL MARKETS

Trade disputes, tariffs: Something to watch out for Canada would come out ahead of U.S. in the Chinese market TINA COMEAU TRICOUNTY VANGUARD

ican producers, Sackton said.

The bottom line – if you make it harder for people to buy your product, they will buy less of it.

REGIONAL

If you are a betting person, bet on Canada.

When it comes to Canada, the United States, lobster exports and the ever-growing Chinese market, Canada would come out ahead of the U.S. in any disruption that might be caused by a trade dispute – if one were to happen, says leading American seafood export John Sackton.

The year 2017 was a good one for both the U.S. and Canadian seafood industries.

Prices were stable for most species, include lobster, salmon, snow crab and warm water shrimp.

When Sackton spoke at the South West Nova Scotia Lobster Forum in Yarmouth in September, he said the Canada-United States seafood and lobster industry is so globally connected that trade wars and tariffs can throw a monkey wrench into any situation and affect everyone.

But, he said, Canada is better positioned than the U.S. He said this is because Canada has been gaining advantage over the United States by opening up new trade markets, notably China.

The Canada-European Union

TINA COMEAU PHOTO

John Sackton, a leading seafood expert, says trade disputes and tariffs can shut industries out of important markets. On the Chinese front, he said that’s a market Canada would come out ahead on compared to the United States.

Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement Implementation Act (CETA) also bodes well for Canada, he said.

China accounts for 37 per cent of global seafood consumption and is a market that is projected to grow rapidly, more so than any other place in the world, said

Sackton. “So China is really going to become very, very dominant to the global seafood industry,� he said.

In other words, it’s a market you don’t want to cut off your access to.

And a U.S. trade war with China risks shutting out Amer-

REMARKABLE GROWTH Sackton calls the Canadian lobster growth in the Chinese market “quite remarkable.�

When you look back over the past 10 years, it was Australian and New Zealand rock lobster that dominated the Chinese lobster.

The North American lobster was seen as a low-value product.

It didn’t have the same prestige.

Not so now.

So the last thing you want is to start throwing 25 per cent tariffs into the mix. By doing so you’re basically slamming the door shut on trade opportunities, said Sackton, who referred to U.S. President Donald Trump – who at the time was threatening more tariffs against China – as a wildcard when it comes to trade issues. “You never can tell from day to day if he’s going to stick with something or not,� he said.

MARKET IMPACTS The U.S. is still Canada’s largest market when it comes to lobster exports.

However, if less American lobster heads to China or Europe, Sackton said the Americans will have to rely more on their own domestic market and you’ll also see more American lobster sold into Canada. This led to some at the forum questioning what the

The U.S. and Canada have a deeply integrated $4-billion seafood trading system.

Canada is gaining advantage over the U.S. by opening new trade markets. Boding well in Canada’s favour: n The Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) n The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) n Expanding trade with China

impacts of that could be.

Geoff Irvine, executive director of the Lobster Council of Canada, said the council always keeps a close eye on where U.S. lobster lands.

He said one thing the council had been looking at extensively is U.S. lobster coming into Canada and being re-exported – and potentially, he said, being called product of Canada. “We’ve got a bunch of live shippers that are really concerned about that because it could be eroding our market in terms of Canadian lobster and the pricing if cheaper U.S. lobster comes in and gets sold as Canadian lobster,� said Irvine.

Meanwhile, as for the whole issue of trade wars and tariffs, in the end people will still find ways to get their products to a market, Sackton said, it’s just a matter of which ones it’ll be. “It makes the trade more difficult, but it doesn’t stop it,� he said. “It makes it more costly, but people try to find a way to work around it.�

Best Wishes for a Safe & Prosperous Season

from the

Warden & Councillors Municipality of the District of Argyle

902-648-2311

Tusket, Yarmouth Co. NS www.munargyle.com 7700679

7706599

Client: WCB

Publication: Lobster Fishing Outlook

C

M

Y

K

A8

LOBSTER OUTLOOK • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2018

TRICOUNTYVANGUARD.CA

n FISHING CAREER

KATHY JOHNSON

Cape Sable Island fisherman Bradford (Baffy) Symonds Jr.

‘It’s been an interesting life’

Cape Sable Island fisherman reflects on decades of fishing KATHY JOHNSON TRICOUNTY VANGUARD CAPE SABLE ISLAND

Bradford (Baffy) Symonds Jr. was only a-year-and-a-half old when his mother took him to Seal Island for the first time.

“I’ve pretty well been on the ocean every year since,” said the retired Cape Sable Island fisherman. “It’s been an interesting life.”

Symonds attended his first year of school on Seal Island in 1936.

“There were about 40 to 50 students,” he says, explaining the island fishermen all took their families there in November.

“Some stayed all winter. We always came home.”

Symonds says his father Bradford Sr. was one of five lobster fishermen who fished from the East Side of Seal Island. About 40 more boats made the West Side their port of call, while the North Home also provided a safe haven.

“There were three places on Seal Island where they hauled their boats up,” he says, noting there were four or five landings on just the West Side.

Symonds began his career as a lobster fisherman in 1943 when he was 12 years old fishing with his father and 15-year-old brother Herbert, first from Seal Island and then Ellenwood Island in a 35-foot boat measuring 9.5 feet across and powered by a six-

cylinder Chevy, using a clock, a compass and a sounding lead for navigational equipment.

“Lobsters were 25 cents a pound, wages were $25 a week.

My father couldn’t afford a hired man, so he took Herbert at 15 and I was 12,” says Symonds.

The two sons would get their education through correspondence classes in the evening and go lobstering in the day.

“That was the start of it. Lobstering wasn’t important then. It was more like a pastime, like fishing is today. Everybody couldn’t wait for the first of June to come to go fishing,” Symonds says. “A lot of people that went lobstering in the winter went fishing in the spring.”

DIFFERENT GEAR Fishing with wooden traps meant a lot more work than today’s wire traps. The fall would be the time of year they would “be in the woods bowing,” says Symonds.

“This is when we would get a lot of bows done. It would take 400 bows to make 100 traps and we’d knit all the heads and then we had to go to Pubnico to get ballast rock and load it in a dory and come into the wharf and unload it. There was a whole lot more to it,” he says. “Then it would take you all winter to make 100 traps.

Most winters the harbour would freeze over by mid-January so far

STARTING OUT Bradford (Baffy) Symonds Jr. started lobster fishing when he was 12. Lobsters were 25 cents a pound, wages were $25 a week.

His father couldn’t afford a hired man so he took him and his 15-year-old brother Herbert.

you couldn’t see the salt water.

We wouldn’t get out until March.”

Whittling wooden lobster plugs was another chore.

“I was probably eight or nine when I started to do that,” says Symonds.

“Some people did it for a living.

Then they got a machine to make them. We only used to plug the crusher claw,” he says, estimating lobster bands came in about the late 1970s.

Symonds can remember the lobster cannery buildings that dotted the southwestern Nova Scotia coastline in the early 1900s, but they were no longer operational. He says there were canneries on Seal Island, Ellenwood Island, Pubnico and Deep Cove Island. Canneries also existed in other places, including Clark’s Harbour.

“There were canneries, but they canned everything. There was no measure. That’s why my father had to leave Seal Island because the lobsters were so shy,” Symonds says, adding once they started putting the lobster size measure on the stocks improved.

Have a Safe & Bountiful Lobster Fishing Season

A measure was in place by the time Symonds started lobster fishing in 1943.

About fishing from Ellenwood Island, Symonds says, “When we came in, every day the smack boat would be there, and we would sell to that smack and it would take the lobsters to Turpentine Island. We didn’t hold any lobsters.

We had very few crates and you couldn’t hold a lobster car at Ellenwood.”

Lobsters were transported by sea to the U.S. in well smacks.

“There were no transports in those days. It all went by water.

Different smacks would go to Portland and there were different buyers but not as many as there is today.”

A LONG CAREER Symonds went lobster fishing for 72 years, never missing a season. Health issues have prevented him from going for the past three years.

“I go to the wharf pretty well every day,” he says. “I’m not physically out there but I’m out there, sitting on the wharf.”

Besides the lobster fishery, Symonds has also fished swordfish, herring and groundfish, including halibut, during his lifetime. He recalls going swordfishing in the 1950s from Shelburne on trips that lasted three weeks.

“The first trip I made $149. The next trip I made $159 and then

I quit because I thought I had money enough,” he says.

Swordfish and halibut were selling at 17 cents a pound in the 1950s, says Symonds. Pollock was worth 1.5 cents. “You could make money at those prices. A lot less expenses and wages.”

Symonds also did relief lightkeeper work on Seal Island, earning $45 a week.

“That was a good paycheck,” he says.

As a herring fisherman, Symonds fished throughout Atlantic Canada in the 1980s, landing in “pretty well every port in Nova Scotia.”

Symonds also had the chance to be part of the original crew for the Canadian Coast Guard Clark’s Harbour Small Lifeboat Station when it opened in 1966, going for six weeks of training in Dartmouth, but when it came November, Symonds decided it wasn’t the life for him. “Seining and stuff, I’ve enjoyed that more than what I would have at the coast guard,” he says, adding those who did continue with their careers at the lifeboat station and their successors have done a good job.

During the past 35 years, Symonds’s twin sons Kurt and Kylie have fished with him. Now the two are at the helm of the Capt. Baff.

“It’s been an interesting life,” he says.

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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2018 •

LOBSTER OUTLOOK

A9

n MARKETS

Market conditions prime for Canadian lobster KATHY JOHNSON TRICOUNTY VANGUARD REGIONAL

Market conditions for live lobster exports appear to be prime heading into the season opening for LFAs 33 and 34.

Export markets to Europe and China are strong, as is the U.S. economy. Add to that stable exchange rates and what’s predicted to be at least an average demand from processors, “I think we’re looking at a relatively healthy season in the fall,” said John Sackton, founder of seafood. com at this fall’s SWNS Lobster Forum in Yarmouth.

Sackton, who was the keynote speaker at the September forum, spoke of U.S. trade issues, how they are impacting the North America lobster industry and gave an in-depth look at North American lobster landings and global market conditions over the past few years.

“The U.S. trade policy disaster has been a gift to Canadian shippers” he said, helping to make Canada the preferred supplier for the Chinese market and reducing American competition.

The CETA (Canada European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement), introduced last year has made Canada the primary supplier to Europe, with the elimination of tariffs on live lobster and lobster products continuing to be phased out over the next few years.

Sackton said the supply of lobster to China increased substantially in 2017, and “is not slowing.” He cautioned, however, too high a price will “grind that market to a halt.”

“It’s very important to maintain the supply into China,” he said.

Globally, the lobster supply decreased for the first time in many years in 2017, due in part to the decrease in U.S. landings of 20 to

7701233

KATHY JOHNSON

Lobster cars – used to store lobster catches during the season – are towed to the Lower East Pubnico wharf in early November by the Blake & Jorgia, with fishermen in an outboard leading the way.

“The U.S. trade policy disaster has been a gift to Canadian shippers.”

John Sackton, founder of seafood.com

30 million pounds, said Sackton.

The higher prices that fishermen were getting in the fall of 2017 and coming into 2018 was in part because there was less lobster available overall, he said.

The high prices in 2017 slowed the market this past spring because many sellers and packers were losing money but had averaged out over the summer months, said Sackton. A glut on whole cooked lobsters had also

KATHY JOHNSON

Lobster fishermen Sean Mills (left) and Ed LeBlanc carry coils of rope to the pot pile on the Lower East Pubnico wharf earlier this month.

improved, and the market on frozen lobster tails is strong.

“Processors are going to be very cautious,” he advised.

“They can’t afford to repeat the mistake they made with whole cooks. Because whole cooks were the weakest part of the market last spring that’s why processors were paying lower prices in the Gulf. This year they are getting a much better return on lobster tails.

The tail market is the only place processors can make money. Nobody’s making money on lobster meat right now. I think they will be buying more but they’re not going to speculate and go crazy like they did in 2016 with whole cooks.”

Sackton said the U.S. continues to be the largest live lobster market for the southwestern Nova Scotia lobster fishery.

A10

LOBSTER OUTLOOK • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2018

TRICOUNTYVANGUARD.CA

n LOOKING BACK

Smooth sailing, rough sailing and you’re paying what?

Looking back on some previous dumping days and season starts TINA COMEAU TRICOUNTY VANGUARD REGIONA

Sometimes the opening of the lobster fishing off southwestern Nova Scotia goes off without a hitch. And sometimes not.

Here’s a look at some past season openings over the years.

2017: One-day delay The temperature was cold as lobster fishermen at wharfs throughout the region awaited the start of the season the morning of Tuesday, Nov. 28. Dumping day had been delayed by one day due to forecasted winds. Normally the season gets underway the last Monday of November. While dumping day was still somewhat windy, the next day when fishermen pulled up their traps was a day they probably should have stayed home, given those winds.

2016: Another one-day delay High winds on the last Monday of November postponed the start of the season to the following day.

Throughout the season fishermen saw high prices that continued to its end. During the week prior to the season wrapping up fishermen were still being paid $8 a pound for catches, but that’s because not as many lobsters had been landed during the season.

Usually the end-of-season shore price is in the $4 to $5 range.

2015: Good start, good price The lobster season got off to a good start with decent opening day weather and better yet, a better price than in previous years. Fish-

TINA COMEAU

The fising vessels Lucas Alexander and Hit ‘n Miss leave the wharf in Pinkney’s Point, Yarmouth County, loaded with traps on dumping day morning in November 2017. On the horizon you can see the lights of boats sailing away from the wharf in Little River Harbour.

ermen were being paid around $6 a pound for their landings.

2014: Six-day weather delay After being delayed six days due to the weather, the lobster season in LFA 34, which takes in all of Yarmouth County and chunks of Shelburne and Digby counties, finally got underway the morning of Saturday, Nov. 29.

The neighbouring LFA 33 district went with a Friday, Nov. 28

start. It was the second year in a row that strong winds delayed the opening. The season should have started Nov. 24.

2012: Should have stayed home Days into the start of the lobster fishery many people were saying that fishermen should have heeded the warnings and uncertainty over price and waited to dump their traps at sea. Fishermen hauling in catches were only getting paid $3 a pound

and there was a fear the price would drop further. At a Dec. 5 meeting on the Yarmouth wharf a newsletter was informally distributed containing the heading “Uniting is the key.” But that was the problem, said fishermen. While everyone agreed they don’t like the price, the fishermen were not united.

2009: Sundays – yes or no?

In the weeks leading up to the start of the lobster fishery, lobster li-

cence holders voted on whether they wanted to give lobster landings a break for one day during each week during the upcoming commercial lobster season. The intention was not to flood the market with a glut of lobster. The year before there was no Sunday fishing the first three weekends of the season for the same reason. But that hadn’t given fishermen the prices they were hoping for.

See PAST STARTS, A11

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"a Safe & Pr#perous Season!

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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2018 •

LOBSTER OUTLOOK

A11

n LOOKING BACK

Past starts

climbed to over $2 per pound for the fisherman. It was reported that these prices were so expensive that restaurants couldn’t afford to buy lobsters.

A lobster boat also made front page news on Nov. 22, 1972, when it caught fire. The headline read: “Fire destroys $15,000 lobster boat.” The 40-foot, fiberglass-built boat was brand new. The value is quite a change compared to what boats are worth nowadays – with many new ones costing half a million dollars or more.

FROM A10 2000: Season opening, election day Grey skies, drizzle and a forecast of an easterly gale set the stage for the season’s opening. The day got off to a quiet and safe start.

Included in the season were 12 licenses being fished by the Acadia First Nation, which had signed an interim fishing agreement with DFO that month, following six months of negotiations. Dumping day was also the day of the 2000 federal election. How many fishermen went to the polls to cast ballots was unknown, but it’s a pretty safe bet voter turnout within the industry was low given that fishermen were busy and preoccupied with the start of the fishery.

1997: Illegal fishing concerns Some discontent rocked the lobster industry during the preseason. Issues with illegal fishing had many fisherman worried that they wouldn’t be getting their fair share during the lobster season.

Fisherman also wanted a clear indication regarding aboriginal fishers. They wanted to know whether aboriginal fishers had the right to fish year-round and whether they were allowed to sell what they caught. A Supreme Court decision – the Marshall decision – two years later spelled out the answers to a lot of these questions, particularly when it came to food, social and ceremonial purposes.

(Although even up to the present day, there are still questions that remain by non-aboriginal fishers.)

1995: Vessels sink, crews rescued Very early on the sea claimed two vessels south of Yarmouth on the opening day of the season. The crew of the Simon Jacque out of Lower Wedgeport had to abandon their boat and were picked up by the nearby fishing vessel Lady Wallace. And four crewmembers were plucked from a liferaft and hoisted aboard a Labrador helicopter when

TINA COMEAU

A beautiful sunset set the backdrop for many fishing boats, including the Atlantic Treasures I, as they wrapped up dumping day in November 2017.

their vessel, the Lady Candace, fishing from Abbotts Harbour, had to abandon their boat after it started taking on water. The Rescue Coordination Centre said the crew was suffering from various stages of hypothermia.

1991: Price too low, we won’t go In a matter of hours, a handful of fishermen organized a fleet tieup that kept nearly 1,000 lobster vessels in port a week into the lobster fishery. And that number was expected to keep growing.

Fishermen were protesting the low price they were being offered, which hovered around the $2.50 mark. Some fishermen even noted fishermen in Grand Manan were getting a better price. They were being paid $3.50 a pound.

1991: Rallying to aid fishermen The probability of taking part in the fall lobster fishery seemed slim for some Port Clyde lobster fishermen after a Nov. 21 fire destroyed their boat, lobster gear and their wharf. But Shelburne County residents rallied for the fishermen with offers of fishing gear and a boat to use. As a result the fishermen, Bill and Rob Williams, got

their set traps with everyone else when the season opened.

1989: Lots of issues As fishermen were busy getting ready for the start of the season, there was also much to ponder, including the possible impact of initiatives in the United States to try and restrict importation of Canadian live lobsters that that did not meet the American minimum body size of three-anda-quarter inch. On top of this, a coast guard strike was seeing coast guard and fisheries vessels tied up ahead of the season, leaving fishermen concerned over safety and search and rescue capabilities. Fortunately there were no major mishaps when the season opened, and coast guard vessels were on the water.

1986: “As good as last year” The first week of the fishery was hampered by bad weather, however in Shelburne County fishermen claimed the harvest was “as good as last year’s.” The price settled at $3.25 and $3.50 per pound.

1982: Weather caused problems High winds and large swells

caused problems for boats and crews on the opening of the season. In Yarmouth, seven men were rescued when the 40-foot vessel Lisa Ann II and the 38foot vessel New Holiday started sinking after being swamped. In Pubnico, the crew of the 45-footvessel Fundy Explorer reportedly dumped 150 lobster traps over the side when the vessel began to list heavily. A story in the Vanguard said the traps could not be recovered.

1981: Foggy days behind them The season opened with some of the best weather experienced in almost five years. In Shelburne County it was a far cry from the previous year when the fog had left visibility of only one-eighth of a mile. This year’s 10 miles of visibility and slightly overcast sky was a welcome change.

1972: Restaurants couldn’t afford to buy lobsters As the season got underway, a newspaper article in the Yarmouth Vanguard stated: “The price opened at an all-time high of $1 per pound to the fisherman.”

Later in the winter the price

1970: Unfair advantage complaints Although the season got off to a good start weather-wise, two vessels fishing out of Wedgeport, Yarmouth County, were swamped with water. The vessels lost their traps but there was no loss of life. One of the boats was towed to Harry’s Island where a bucket brigade of 20 fishermen helped to bail it out.

Meanwhile, the federal fisheries minister had received complaints about auxiliary boats transporting traps to the fishing grounds. People complained that it was unfair since those who could afford to pay the hiring charges for larger boats could gain an advantage over the majority of the fishermen. Said minister Jack Davis: “Large boats, not registered as lobster vessels, are not allowed to engage in this practice.”

1966: Opening price 65 cents to $1 1966 saw beautiful opening day weather, with temperatures soaring above normal and calm seas. The opening day price was to be anywhere between 65 cents a pound and a dollar a pound. The opening price the previous year was said to be a “record-breaking” 90 cents a pound. The record breaking high before that was 65 cents a pound. You couldn’t be on a lobster boat without a fishing license. Not to worry, however, you could purchase one for just 25 cents!

COMMUNITY BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CORPORATIONS Shelburne, Yarmouth and Digby Would like to wish all fishermen good luck and best wishes for a safe and prosperous lobster season.

CBDC Shelburne 902-875-1133

www.cbdc.ca

7705620

CBDC Digby Clare 902-245-6166

7706385

CBDC Yarmouth 902-742-5364

LOBSTER OUTLOOK FISHING OUTLOOK t 8&%/&4%": /07&.#&3 LOBSTER • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2018

A12 A12

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Lobster Fishing District in Atlantic Canada

33

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29

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28

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Seasons 3-8

17

27

April 20 – July 15

June 5 – August 5

May 15 – July 15

9-12

18

28

April 20 – July 30

May 20 – July 31

May 9 – July 9

13a-13b

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36-37

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May 9 – July 9

May 10 - July 10

March 31 – June 29 and 2nd Tuesday in November – January 14

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May 5 – July 10

April 30 – June 30

May 19 – July 20

15

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June 1 – August 12

May 8 – July 7

April 29 – June 30

Closed to inshore-offshore lobster fishing

16

25

31b-32

41

May 20 – August 10

August 9 – October 10

April 19 – June 20

TIDE DID YOU

times know?

33-34

Last Monday in November – May 31 35

Last day Feb – July 31 and October 14 – December 31

2nd Tuesday in November – June 29

Area open all year

Note: Minimum size of lobster varies by district

Nov. 27 to Dec. 8

SHELBURNE Lobster Facts LOW HIGH LOW HIGH

CLARK’S HARBOUR

27 27 Canadian 8:33 Atlantic 2:30 Lobster 9:02 are 2:26 28 truly fascinating creatures. Here 28 are9:35 3:24 9:55 3:29 29 some interesting facts that may, or may not, know4:37 about 30 29 you 10:34 4:17 10:48 charismatic crustacean.

30 this 11:29 5:09 11:41 5:39 1 1 • Hard 12:23 shelled 5:59 versus soft6:34 2 shelled: Since the Atlantic Lobster 2 must 12:32 6:48 1:15 7:25 3 moult – shed its shell – in 3 1:23 7:37 2:07 8:16 4 4 2:13 8:25 2:59 9:09 5 5 3:05 9:15 3:50 10:03 6 6 3:59 10:08 4:43 10:58 7 7 4:58 11:03 5:39 11:53 8 8 5:58 12:01 6:38

order display3:58 a 9:35to grow, 3:42it will9:59 thinner softer shell after it has 10:36 In4:38 4:58 moulted.

Canada,10:53 the lobster season is staggered around the 11:32 5:32 11:44 5:52 summer moulting period and the 12:23 of6:23 majority Canadian Atlantic6:46 Lobster are harvested 12:33 7:11 hard-shelled.

1:10 7:38 This is done • Moulting: 1:20 7:58 1:57 through 8:29 out the life of the lobster to enable 2:06 8:44 2:44 9:20 it to grow. During its first year a

2:52 3:40 4:29 5:21 6:16

9:31 10:18 11:06 11:58 12:42

3:33 4:22 5:12 6:05 6:59

10:10 10:59 11:50

12:53

LOCKEPORT

lobster moult as9:15 many as2:31 10 8:50 will2:28 times. Lobsters will continue to 9:51approximately 3:25 10:09 moult once a3:36 year until maturity.

Older lobsters may 10:47 4:21 11:00 4:40 moult only once every two to three 11:39 5:14 11:49 5:39 years.

12:29 6:04 limbs: Lobsters 6:35 • Regenerating can regenerate lost 12:37 6:52 appendages 1:18 7:27 to predation. This would include 1:24 7:39 2:06 8:18 their claws, legs, antennules and

27 28 29 30 1 2 3 4 2:11 8:26 5 2:59 9:13 6 3:50 10:02 n LOBSTER TIDBITS 7 4:43 10:52 8 5:42 11:45

902-742-6911

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4:10 5:03 5:58 6:56 7:56

10:34 11:27 12:03 12:59 1:57

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DIGBY

and contrary it 27 cords 11:41 5:26 to rumour5:50 does not scream. The sound heard 28 when 12:08 6:22 6:47 boiling lobster12:38 is only the steam escaping from the shell.

29 1:03 7:17 1:33 7:42 30 • Growth 1:57 chart: 8:09 It takes 2:25 a lobster 8:35 around six to eight years to reach 1 a market 2:48 weight 8:59 of approximately 3:16 9:26 pound.9:48 Lobsters 4:07 grow quicker 2 one3:38 10:16 warmer water and can achieve 3 in 4:28 10:38 4:57 11:06 market weights in less time.

4 5:18 11:28 5:48 11:57 5 6:09 12:20 6:40 6 7:02 12:50 7:33 1:13 7 7:57 1:44 8:28 2:08 8 8:54 2:41 9:25 3:05

• The commercial lobster fishing in LFA 34 off southwest Nova Scotia has the highest landings and the most participants of any LFA (lobster fishing area) in Canada. • The fishery is managed by input controls including a minLobster is Canada’s mostmillivaluimum legal size (82.5 able seafood export and an iconic metres), prohibition on landing of both egg-bearing and V-notched Canadian species exported females, limited around the world.entry, a season between the Monday The majoritylast (around 78%)inofNovCanember through to May and a adian lobster exports are31, destined

trap limit. on the sea are always deployed on • Other management measures the opening day of the season to include the requirement for es- provide assistance if needed. This cape vents for sublegal sizes and includes Coast Guard and DFO biodegradable trap mechanisms vessels and military aircraft. to mitigate ghost fishing by lost • Boats in LFA 34 leave the traps. wharfs at 6 a.m. on dumping day. ers• across and fishery runs Monday or Due toAtlantic the risksCanada associated Boats in LFAthe 33 last along the provQuebec participate. are November to shore May 31) with vessels leavingLobsters the wharfs ince’s south leave at 7 a.m. loaded with andtraps gearplaced on the onr MPCTUFS TJ[F SFTUSJDUJPOT dumping day. Fishermen are caught usingtraps baited firsttheday, and of the of later permitted UP to begin hauling on bottom thepossibility sea. Overall, r W OPUDIJOH QSPUFDU FHH mechanical breakdowns as well, traps at one minute after midlobster populations in Canada are bearing females, several resources in the air and night. healthy and sustainably managed. r USBQ EFTJHOT UIBU BMMPX VOEFS-

Species at a glance

Some facts about lobster

7709860

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10:44 Sometimes, 4:37 11:10 parent reason, lobsters will also 28 drop 11:39 5:53 a claw.5:31 29 • Lobster 12:01 teeth: 6:23 Lobsters 12:33 do6:48 have 30 teeth, 12:51however, 7:13 instead 1:25of being 7:41 found in the mouth they are found 1 in the 1:40stomach.

8:03 2:15 8:33 2 • Steam 2:30 scream: 8:52 The 3:06 9:24 Atlantic not have any vocal 3 Lobster 3:19 does 9:43 3:57 10:16

Things to know about this fishery n DID YOU KNOW?

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for the United States. Other key marConservation measures are kets include Asia (Japan and China) tailored to meet the unique needs and the European Union (Belgium, of each lobster fishery. Commonly France). Lobster is also exported to used measures include: an additional 50 countries. r MJNJUT UP UIF OVNCFS PG MJDFODFT

TJ[FE MPCTUFST UP FTDBQF BOE UIBU include biodegradable escape panels to ensure traps lost at sea will not continue catching lobsters and other species,

TRICOUNTYVANGUARD.CA

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2018 •

LOBSTER OUTLOOK

A13

n BOAT BUILDING

80 years later still going strong Although A.F. Theriault and Son Ltd. has diversified its products, lobster boats remain at the core of the business TINA COMEAU TRICOUNTY VANGUARD METEGHAN RIVER

As fishermen have been working in yards and on wharfs preparing gear for the upcoming lobster season, the region’s largest family-run private boat yard has been marking its 80th anniversary in business.

And while A.F. Theriault and Son Ltd. in Meteghan River continues to diversify and expand its product line, lobster fishing boats continue to be a mainstay.

“It’s all part of A.F. Theriault, we’re building lobster boats all the time,” says Gilles Theriault, managing director of the company, and a third generation of Theriaults that have worked here.

“We’ve modernized the technology and the construction. We build them out of advanced composite core, so no wood goes into the construction of the vessel. It makes a longer durable vessel and a very strong boat,” he says.

“We’re booked up for a while,” Theriault says. “We’re several boats behind, which is a good thing.”

The company also has a new 100-ton boat trailer that they purchased and a boat launch they constructed, to handle and haul lobster boats, Theriault says.

In addition to building lobster boats, repairs and servicing is part of the ongoing effort.

Graham Oakley is A.F. Theriault and Son Ltd.’s vice-president of new construction. He says in the last 80 years more than 900 vessels of all types have been fabricated at A.F. Theriault and Son Ltd., evolving from the wooden boats of the past to state-of-the-art aluminum, steel, fiberglass and composite vessels, research vessels, patrol vessels, fishing and aquaculture vessels, workboats, pleasure crafts and passenger ferries.

Lobster boats, Graham says, remain an important part of the work that takes place at the Digby County boatyard.

He says in recent years – during and after a season where landings were quite high – a lot of orders came in for new lobster vessels as fishermen were feeling confident about the state and future of the fishery. And/or they felt the timing was right to move ahead with something they had been putting off for a long time – a new boat.

“Everybody’s order books were full for a couple of years,” Oakley says.

He says it has since levelled off, but construction remains steady as there are still a lot of boats

TINA COMEAU PHOTO

Roy Thibodeau in the Tin Smith Shop at A.F. Theriault and Son Ltd. with some of the older machinery that has been around for a long time and continues to get the job done.

TINA COMEAU PHOTO

A.F. Theriault and Son Ltd. managing director Gilles Theriault cuts the ribbon for a new office building that was officially opened during the company’s recent 80th anniversary celebration.

being built throughout the region.

Fishing boats are restricted to length by licence conditions, but Oakley says fishermen have been going wider with their vessels over the years.

“Most of the boats are 28 to 30 feet wide now, some fishermen are even asking, ‘What’s the widest boat you build? I want one wider,’” he says. “I would say the norm now is a very wide boat and it’s a challenge because our molds were never designed for that so we’re stretching our molds out.”

Oakley also says a feature that has become more standard on boats is a live well.

Live wells are holding tanks on a boat filled with salt water for the storage of lobsters before they are brought to shore.

“All of the new boats now have live wells. That’s sort of the standard because it’s so important to keep the lobster live and healthy and keep the quality up,” says Oakley.

Of course, many fishermen don’t just fish for lobster. They have li-

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cences for multiple species and so they want their boats to reflect that.

“Most of the boats are going to be used for dual purpose,” Oakley says. “The use them for lobster fishing but they also want them for longlining or tuna or swordfishing. There’s a lot of guys that still have scallop licences.” Herring fishing also takes place.

“They want the boats geared up so they can be easily changed over from one species to the next,” Oakley says, adding if you’re going to have a large mortgage on a boat

you don’t want to see it sitting idle for six months of the year.

And while it is boatyards that construct the boats, it is the fishermen who are giving the direction.

“Fishermen know what they want, they know what they like.

Some people like a Pubnicobuilt boat, some people like a Meteghan-built boat, some like them coming from Cape Island, they all have their preferences and that’s fine,” Oakley says. “You have to respect that, that’s for sure. They’re always right.”

And so, a lot has changed from 80 years ago when Augustin (Gus) Theriault and his wife Elizabeth founded A.F. Theriault and Son Ltd. in 1938 – which has since seen a second, third and fourth generation of the family involved in the business.

Graham Oakley – who like other employees is treated like family – says as the company continues to branch out, and technology and construction continues to improve and evolve, the business still remains committed to its roots, especially when it comes to supporting the lobster fishery.

“It’ll be part of the core business for a very, very long time,” he says.

“You can’t take a year off from building lobster boats. You’ve got to keep the lobster boats going all the time.”

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A14

LOBSTER OUTLOOK • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2018

TRICOUNTYVANGUARD.CA

n VIEW FROM THE OFFICE

WAYNE D’ENTREMONT

A sampling of Wayne d’Entremont’s photography when he’s out fishing on the water.

Fisherman lands fish and photos on each trip Pubnico photographer and fisherman Wayne d’Entremont opened a gallery this summer CARLA ALLEN THEVANGUARD.CA YARMOUTH

CARLA ALLEN

Photographer and fisherman Wayne d’Entremont in his West Pubnico gallery.

WAYNE D’ENTREMONT

At work on the sea.

Ask anyone who’s tried – it’s not easy taking pictures from a fishing boat. Yet Wayne d’Entremont continues to excel from this platform.

He’s fished the waters off South West Nova Scotia for close to 35 years, most recently pulling haddock from the sea aboard the Angelo O, skippered

by Shane (Sugar Shane) D’Eon. When asked if he takes his camera, a Nikon D810, with him, d’Entremont smiles.

“Always,” he says.

Opportunities abound but cannot always be caught.

“Many times we’ll haul up at daybreak, sunrise or sunset and I’m there working on deck just grinding my teeth, looking at what’s happening,” he says.

“Or a boat’s going by in rough weather… but once the work is done, time is mine.”

When it’s blowing a gale you won’t always find d’Entremont

Wayne d’Entremont’s gallery is located at 111 Louise B. Rd. in Lower West Pubnico.

Viewing appointments are requested. Call 902-762-2432 or 902-648-7792 His website is in development.

more pics

See more photos online

thevanguard.ca in the wheelhouse, seeking shelter as the boat leaps and rolls. He says it’s impossible to use a tripod so he just braces himself to shoot.

“If I hear a big splash on the side of the boat I just duck and hope it doesn’t get me or the camera.”

Although he shoots a variety of subjects, d’Entremont’s fascination with the sea is obvious.

In the past year he’s made many dreamy, flowing, slow shutter images of the ocean.

This is a man who sees and appreciates the beauty around him

and wants to share it with others.

Freeman Patterson, a professional photographer based in New Brunswick, has been held in high esteem by d’Entremont for many years.

After d’Entremont and his wife Francine visited Patterson in his Shamper’s Bluff home last year, Patterson provided a workshop at d’Entremont’s home in September and insisted on buying one of d’Entremont’s photos, at full price.

He considers Wayne to be unsurpassed in his ability to convey “profound feeling of identity with the ocean.”

“For Wayne the ocean is both a reality and a symbol. In fact, the symbol is the reality, as his work goes far beyond describing the ocean’s extraordinary beauty to evoking elemental feelings generated by its vastness, its darkness, its power, and its sheer mystery,” he says.

In June, d’Entremont opened a gallery of his work in his home.

“I’m more serious than ever I think, the more I get into it,” he says.

WAYNE D’ENTREMONT

Dreamy, flowing, slow shutter images of the ocean are among the photographs Wayne d’Entremont captures.

WAYNE D’ENTREMONT

Fishing boats lined up in port.

“For Wayne the ocean is both a reality and a symbol.

In fact, the symbol is the reality, as his work goes far beyond describing the ocean’s extraordinary beauty to evoking elemental feelings generated by its vastness, its darkness, its power, and its sheer mystery.”

Freeman Patterson, photographer Picture yourself here. A sample of Wayne d’Entremont’s photography.

WAYNE D’ENTREMONT WAYNE D’ENTREMONT

Fishermen are never alone, as d’Entremont’s camera captures.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2018

tricountyvanguard.ca

lobster outlook

B1

’Tis the season

Special tree honours fishermen and industry

B11

n FOOD

Fuelling the bellies of fishermen Hungry crews filling up on locally prepared grub in southwest Nova CARLA ALLEN TRICOUNTY VANGUARD REGIONAL

When the sea’s a-heaving and the boat’s a’rollin so hard you can’t even boil a pot of water on the stove, the crew still needs to be fed.

That job has become easier for many, thanks to businesses and individuals in southwestern Nova Scotia helping to take the responsibility off family members who’ve supplied home-cooked meals in the past.

Lindsay Doyle is one of these popular meal makers. Close to a year ago she opened Treat YarMouth on the Mood Road, just off Highway 103.

In addition to selling to the public, the list of boats she supplies is growing.

Whipping up meals comes naturally to her. She’s been cooking ever since she was a kid.

In Grade 4 she learned how to bake bread in 4-H class – then began selling it to her teachers.

With three brothers, plus her mom and dad, baked goods and meals disappeared quickly in their Ontario home.

“I’ve always just cooked for everybody, my friends, my family,” she says.

Five years ago, Doyle moved to Yarmouth from Saskatoon after the migration of her brothers and parents to the area.

LAUNCH OF TREAT YAR-MOUTH She met Ryan Roberts, who works aboard the fishing vessel Haul ‘er Nuthin, owned by Jimmy Conrad. Roberts became her partner and, naturally, she wanted to make sure he was well fed while at sea. Not wanting to leave the others out, she prepared enough for all the crew.

“At the end of the second year they were telling me I was crazy not to be selling this stuff,” she says.

Doyle decided to do just that.

Her decision wasn’t for the faint of heart. It required wrangling with officials to comply with government regulations and a serious investment of $40,000 to develop the commercial kitchen, which is now a very busy site.

Most weekdays start with a trip to daycare to drop off her daughter, Karlie, who turns three in February.

Doyle’s work in the kitchen starts around 9 or 10 a.m.

“I have no interest at getting up at 5 a.m., which is why I’m not a bakery,” she says. Depending on orders, she’ll work into the evening, making dough that has to rest overnight for some products.

BREAD DAY WEDNESDAYS Wednesdays are usually bread days. Everyone must put their orders in by 9 a.m. She bakes oatmeal brown, multigrain, white and garlic cheese bread topped with mozzarella.

Cinnamon raison, wholewheat and cheddar cheese bread are also available.

She uses an automatic 20quart kneader for production.

In addition to the breads she sometimes makes several dozen batches of vanilla-glazed donuts, deliciously-gooey cinnamon rolls and Reese chocolate Skor banana bread.

“I go through a lot of those,” she says.

She moves about her tiny kitchen non-stop – laying mozzarella strips on top of the bread, opening oven doors to check on the progress of other loaves and crumpling up wax paper dribbled with icing sugar, from beneath the cinnamon rolls, to toss into the garbage. She moves the rolls to a multi-shelved cooling rack and places used bowls and utensils in the sink for washing.

After the baking, orders will be

CARLA ALLEN

Lindsay Doyle finishes up a batch of vanilla glazed doughnuts.

CARLA ALLEN

Cheese bread fresh out of the oven.

Contact information • Treat Yar-Mouth 902 815-8833 • Treat Yar-Mouth also has a Facebook Page

Other individuals and businesses supplying fishermen

CARLA ALLEN

Vanilla glazed doughnuts.

picked up in the evening, sometimes when she’s getting Karlie ready for bed.

“I’ve had crazy, crazy busy days and I just hunker down and do it,” says Doyle.

She’s now baking for a dozen boat crews, compared to nine last year.

“I’ve always just done this myself. I’m going to end up hiring help,” she laughs.

There’s a problem with that, though, she adds, as she doesn’t measure, for the most part, and just tosses stuff in.

“I’ve been doing it for so long it’s just second-nature.”

TESTIMONIALS Doyle likes baking for the crews. Here’s one of the reasons why. Three captains told her last year she wasn’t charging enough, so she increased her prices slightly.

“At the prices I have set I’m not really making a whole lot of

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money for my time, so I appreciate that they’re honest about it,” she says.

Grant Conrad owns Ol’Eastsider and fishes out of Argyle. He says Doyle’s food is “awesome.”

“We fill the fridge and freezer right full when we get started, then we get the wives to pick more up as we need it,” he says, adding he especially likes the size that feeds all of the crew.

“You just shove the pan in the oven and when it’s warmed up you’re good to go.”

It saves a lot of work for them, especially in any kind of foul weather, he says.

“The meat pockets and pizza buns or anything like that, you shove them in the microwave and it only takes a couple of minutes, so the guys can get something into them,” he says. “It’s really convenient. It’s an awesome service to have around here for anyone doing this kind of work.”

DEVAN COTTREAU

Devan Cottreau sent a picture of himself and other crewmembers enjoying Treat Yar-Mouth meals aboard the High Roller.

Devan Cottreau picks up the meals for High Roller crewmembers whose homeport is Yarmouth.

“It’s great. You fire them in the oven, use paper plates and plastic forks to eat with, there’s no dishes or nothing.”

Crew favourites include pastries and meat-stuffed buns like pizza, sausage and chicken bacon ranch.

“We love ‘em,” Cottreau says.

The menu stimulates the taste buds: sweet and sour meatballs, meatloaf with gravy and garlic mashed potatoes, ham and scalloped potatoes (very popular), honey garlic chicken, Salisbury steak, pork chops with mushroom sauce and cheddar broccoli rice, rappie pie, spaghetti surprise, turkey pot pies and shepherd’s pie. Sandwich selections includes donairs, breakfast buns, pork and mushroom buns, philly cheese steak, barbecue chicken, pizza buns and pulled

pork.

Doyle says the meals are not only quick, they save fishermen time and money.

“If they go grocery shopping, they’ll make a massive order for fishing. This way they don’t have to buy, carry and hold all the ingredients for everything and it’s not taking up the space. They don’t have to lose a guy going down to cook, they can just carry on,” says Doyle.

Most of the meals she prepares are packed off directly to her commercial-sized, stand-up freezers.

Unfortunately, she doesn’t get to see and hear recipients enjoying her food.

“That’s kind of why I’ve always done it,” she says with a twinge of sadness.

“There are certain people who have certain gifts that they give to others to make them happy.

Mine’s always been food. I’ve always made people happy with food.”

B2

LOBSTER OUTLOOK • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2018

TRICOUNTYVANGUARD.CA

n BYCATCH MONITORING

FACT OR FICTION?

n All tied up

Bycatch monitoring misconceptions addressed TRICOUNTY VANGUARD REGIONAL

At this fall’s annual South West Lobster Forum held in Yarmouth, the five fishing groups that have come together to form a pilot bycatch monitoring system spoke about the programming they are offering, and launching, during the 2018-2019 lobster seasons.

The fisheries organizations in southwestern Nova Scotia have come together to form the Southwest Lobster Science Society (SLSS) and have put together a three-year bycatch monitoring pilot project that will be implementing in this fall’s lobster fisheries in southwestern Nova Scotia and along the province’s south shore are the Bay of Fundy Inshore Fishermen’s Association, Brazil Rock 33/34 Lobster Association, Coldwater Lobster Association, the Maritime Fishermen’s Union Local 9 and the Scotia Fundy Inshore Fishermen’s Association.

At the forum, Heather Mulock of the SLSS offered a true or false responses about the efforts of the associations.

• The associations didn’t fight DFO on bycatch collection: FALSE “This is a complicated statement to talk about in short. This has been going on for a few years, but really in the last year it became ‘this is happening.’ We didn’t want this, none if the five associations in this room wanted to have bycatch monitoring, I want to make that clear. When we realized the other option was cameras or black boxes or anything else that was thrown out, that was some-

thing we did fight against. We did say no, and when we realized it was going forward we tried to make it better for fishermen.”

• The association is not accepting new members: TRUE AND FALSE “There is a little truth to this and it’s also false as well. We had a very strict deadline to join this association and it was Feb.15, which got extended to March 1 by DFO. The reasoning for that is we had been told up until that point that DFO needed seven months notice prior to the opening of LFA 35, so that was one reason we had a strict deadline.

The other reason for the deadline was the AFF funding we were applying for.

Through conversations we found out that it could take three to four months for approval and we knew we needed additional funds to pull this program off.

This is a huge undertaking. Just the safety equipment alone was going to cost a lot of money. In order to make sure we had sufficient time whether we were approved or disapproved for federal funding, we had to have that deadline.”

“For this year we can’t accept new licence holders, but next year it’s an open book. If you’re unhappy under the plan you’re with, whether it’s the DFO plan or not, you’re only locked in for one year. So you can reach out to one of the five association for the southwest pilot next year or if you’re unhappy with the southwest pilot you can certainly go back to DFO’s observer program. So you do have the freedom but right now you are locked into the program that you chose.”

• The association forced their members to join the bycatch monitoring system: FALSE “Every member, whatever group you’re with, all have a choice and that choice was stick with DFOs observer program or take a chance and come with us for the pilot. Either option – no matter how you want to look at – (you) might say both options weren’t great…

We did not force our members to join this. If we did force you, than yes I would say you have an argument, but right now every fishermen had that choice.”

• The SLSS shared the personal information collected from fishermen with DFO or vice versa: FALSE “The questionnaires that (fishermen) filed out, their personal information, the lobster licence number, their FIN number, vessel … all of that information, despite what the feeling is out there, we did not share that information with DFO, nor did DFO provide us any information of licence holders and licence names. There is no sharing whatsoever.”

• The associations are making money off of the bycatch moniroting program: FALSE “I can assure you we are not. The monies that we charged fishermen to join this pilot is $499. When we break down that $499 – $488 is used directly for this project. That could be for the salaries for the technicians, insurance, safety equipment, 10 per cent administrative fee, but generally there is $11 left over per member in the event of a liability or something going wrong. We’re not making money off of this by any means, and once again, fishermen did have the choice about whether they wanted to join the pilot or not.”

Wishes all fishermen a Safe and Prosperous Season.

TINA COMEAU PHOTO

The fishing fleet at the Meteghan wharf.

• One association is leading the pilot project and making all of the major decisions: FLASE “The Southwest Lobster Science Society has a board of directors and of that board of directors, each association have two members represented. At every meeting all associations have been present and voted on what they felt was best for their members.”

• Fisheries technicians will be deployed on dumping day: FALSE “No we will not be deploying fisheries technicians on dumping day. Just as we are concerned about the safety of our fishermen and licence holders and their crew, we also are concerned about the fisheries technicians. You guys are under a lot of stress when you hit the water on dumping day and it is scary for everybody so we’re certainly not going to send somebody out on a vessel and have another person on deck on dumping day.

Soon thereafter – we’ll probably wait two, three, four days – but after that we will be deploying the fisheries technicians if you’re under the plan.”

• Inside fishermen will be targeted while the outside fishermen will be spared: FALSE “There was a feeling that for the guys who go offshore, and they’re there for two, three or four days, that we wouldn’t be sending a technician. That is false.

Everybody in this program, hopefully everybody, this season – keep in mind that weather is our enemy – (will have a technician) but keep in mind the split is somewhere between 60 and 40 per cent.”

• Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) is behind the bycatch data collection initiative: FALSE “MSC certification does require bycatch data but not nearly as much as what DFO requires under their Sustainable Fisheries Act for the bycatch monitoring component.”

• The associations believe that the industry-led bycatch monitoring program is a better alternative than having cameras on board our vessels: TRUE “We went into this program thinking how can we make this easier for fishermen? It is a big program. It’s going to be bumpy. It’s new for everybody. Whether you’re in the program or not, we really went into this thinking this was the best option for fishermen. We knew that with tides, the locations, the turnover of technicians or observers, there’s a lot of factors in this program, but we really feel this is the best program – having industry lead it rather than DFO.”

Best Wishes for a Safe and Prosperous Lobster Season

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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2018 •

LOBSTER OUTLOOK

B3

n SAFETY

FOCUS ON SAFETY: Are you ready?

Safety messages delivered, fishermen forewarned crackdown coming for non-compliance of PFD use KATHY JOHNSON TRICOUNTY VANGUARD REGIONAL

The Fisheries Safety Association of Nova Scotia and the Nova Scotia Fisheries Sector Council have been busy in the weeks leading up to the opening of the lobster fishery delivering man overboard drills, safety equipment demonstrations and safety messages at wharfs throughout southwestern Nova Scotia as part of their ‘Are You Ready?’ program.

“Attendance at these drills has been fantastic, even in smaller ports for 10 or less vessels we are still seeing all captains and crews show up,” said Matthew Duffy, safety advisor for the Fisheries Safety Association of Nova Scotia.

“Their interest has grown immensely, many coming forward with questions around safety and the regulations which is great to see,” Duffy added. “After our drills we end up staying for a half hour or more because there is usually discussions around safety equipment or safety documentation requirements.”

Well over 50 people were on hand at the Clark’s Harbour wharf for the man overboard drill on Nov. 8. Amanda Dedrick, executive director of the Fisheries Safety Association, told fishermen it’s been a sad year in the Nova Scotia fishery with seven fatalities.

“It’s one of the worst years we’ve had in a long time. It’s the most number of tragedies we’ve had since 2013 when we had the Miss Alley tragedy. Out of seven fatalities not one was wearing a PFD,” said Dedrick, noting “It is a legal requirement to wear a PFD when your safety is being jeopardized or you are at risk of drowning.”

Dedrick forewarned fishermen that the provincial Department of Labour will be stepping up enforcement of the regulation when the season opens with an increased presence on wharfs in the area and additional officers.

“If they do see folks coming into the wharfs without their PFDs on you can rest assured there will be some conversation around that,”

KATHY JOHNSON PHOTOS

Volunteer diver Brandon Fitzgerald from the Nova Scotia Fisheries Sector Council is hoisted up out of the water in a Pubnico ring, by the crew of the Good a Nuff I, during a man overboard drill on the Clark’s Harbour wharf on Nov. 8.

Fishermen forewarned The provincial Department of Labour will be stepping up enforcement of the regulation to wear PFDs when the season opens with an increased presence on wharfs in the area and additional officers.

said Dedrick.

Warnings and penalties can or will be issued if there is non-compliance for the use of a PFD. The Fisheries Safety Association of Nova Scotia and the Nova Scotia Fisheries Sector Council began delivering the ‘Are You Ready?’ program in 2012 with wharf-side demonstrations and man overboard drills.

“People seemed pretty interested so we continued along that

journey,” said Dedrick, with a goal to hit 100 percent of the 156 fishing wharves in Nova Scotia – a goal they will reach this year.

“By the end of 2018 we will have reached all 156 wharves province wide,” said Duffy. “To date we have completed 155 drills, with some wharfs being repeats.”

The Fisheries Safety Association of Nova Scotia was launched in January 2010, with the objectives to facilitate a process to create safer workplaces, assisting return to work and injury prevention activities; to develop and provide tools to help reduce the number and duration of injuries occurring in the fishing industry; and to increase awareness of costs associated with workplace injury in the fishing industry.

Fishermen line the wharf in Clark’s Harbour to watch the man overboard drill staged aboard the fishing vessel Good a Nuff I, captained by Randy Nickerson, South Side.

O F

Nova Scotia Fisheries Safety Association safety advisor Matthew Duffy outlines the features and workings of a life raft to fishermen on the Clark’s Harbour wharf which is one of the components of the ‘Are Your Ready?’ program, which is co-managed by the Nova Scotia Fisheries Sector Council.

Best !shes "a Safe & Pr#perous Season

Wishing our Fishermen a Safe and Prosperous Season!

T O W N

Nova Scotia Fisheries Safety Association safety advisor Matthew Duffy (left) shows fisherman Robert Atwood some of the finer points of a Fox40 Throw Bag, which has 90 feet of buoyant rope, and was one of the pieces of safety gear demonstrated during the man overboard drill.

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B4

LOBSTER OUTLOOK • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2018

TRICOUNTYVANGUARD.CA

n COLUMN

Families on shore and at sea Tri-County Vanguard editor Tina Comeau reflects on the personal side of the lobster fishery Tina Comeau

It’s My Life

Usually there’s a convoy of vehicles all heading in the same direction.

It makes me grin every year – rush-hour traffic at 5 a.m. in Melbourne, Yarmouth County, heading to the wharf in Pinkney’s Point.

But last year as I pulled out of our driveway it was just them and me – them being my husband Greg and my son Jacob.

I watched their taillights ahead of me – driving to the wharf and driving away from me.

When I asked Jacob the night before if he wanted to drive to the wharf with me or his dad I could tell by his expression and response that it was a question I shouldn’t have asked.

I drove him to hockey games when he was younger. Gave him rides to school. Picked him up from friends’ houses. You don’t drive with your mom to the wharf on dumping day.

At least not anymore.

Two seasons ago it was just after five in the morning when he asked me the question, “Are you ready?” Standing in the kitchen, he was signalling it was time to drive to the wharf.

I was reluctant. Nervous. Emotional.

Was I ready? Good question.

I wasn’t as nervous watching him sail off last year. Maybe it’s because he fishes with his father and I know his dad wouldn’t put him in harm’s way. Maybe it’s because he fished all of the previous year and came home safe every trip.

And yet I’m not sure how many fishermen had their moms yelling at them on the wharf on dumping day morning, “Make sure you wear your life jacket!”

Who I am kidding? Of course I’m nervous.

I was nervous when it was just my husband on the boat with other crewmembers that I wasn’t even related to.

For those of us left on shore, we are all nervous. The lump in our throats may subside in a week. Or if not, maybe by May 31 – the last day of the season.

This year my younger son Justin will also be heading out on the water on dumping day. In our household the only ones who won’t be going lobster fishing are me and the cats.

There’s that lump again.

Gulp. Gulp. Gulp.

Those of us who watch the boats leave countless wharfs on dumping day morning before the sun rises have the luxury of running back to our cars and driving somewhere that we’ll be warm afterwards.

TINA COMEAU

Lights are reflected on the water during a dumping day morning in Pinkney’s Point, Yarmouth County.

TINA COMEAU

Traps have been loaded on my husband’s boat, Jacob’s Journey. My family and the others on the crew wait until it’s time to head out to the fishing grounds.

Between snow on the ground and bitter temperatures, which isn’t unusual on dumping day mornings, I’m not sure how these fishermen do what they do over the winter months.

The weather is cold. It can be windy.

There are days when you get a break and the weather isn’t so bad.

But then there’s the next day.

And the next day.

And the next day.

During the first couple of weeks of the fishing season I’ll see very little of the fishermen in my

family. When they’re not on the water they’ll be in bed for those few precious hours of sleep.

When I’m asleep they’ll be leaving the house.

Repeat.

Repeat.

Repeat.

At the wharf in Pinkney’s Point on dumping day mornings there are always other women and children watching the boats sail off to the fishing grounds. It is their husbands, their sons, their fathers, their cousins, their brothers, their uncles, their boyfriends sailing off.

In these small communities fishing really is a family way of life.

“Be safe,” one woman shouted out as each boat sailed past last year.

“Have fun!” she told each one.

I liked that she said that. Fishing is hard, tiring work, so you would hope that, at the very least, it’s enjoyable too.

By the time I was ready to leave the wharf on the last dumping day morning my feet were cold and even though I was wearing gloves my hands were numb.

After watching my husband’s

Our Best Wishes to all fishermen during the 2018/2019 Lobster Season from your friends at Belliveau Motors

Best for a wishes Safe &

Best wishes

for a Safe & Lobster Season !

Prosperous Lobster Season!

boat Jacob’s Journey, and the majority of the fleet sail off, it was time to go home. To head to somewhere warm. To go through all of the photos I had taken. I started to walk away. My work here was done.

Except that it wasn’t.

Another fisherman in a boat still at the wharf poked his head through the window of the wheelhouse as I walked past.

“You’ve been filming these for a long time,” he said to me about dumping day, as my camera hung around my neck where a scarf would have been the more prudent choice.

“Yes I have,” I said, adding, “I hope you have a very safe day today.”

He smiled, said thanks and then pulled away from the wharf.

I stood in my spot and waved goodbye.

And then I waved to the next boat that left.

And the one after that.

On each boat the fishermen waved back.

Slowly I walked back to my car.

To my left I could see the lights of the fishing fleet dotting the horizon like a twinkling city on the water. To my right the last boat was leaving the harbour.

I waved once more, even though those on that boat couldn’t see me. For those of us on land, it’s important for us to know that they know we care about them. That we want them to be safe.

On the drive home I thought about all of the fishermen and about my family on the water.

Day one of the season. Only 184 more days to go.

Was I ready?

Maybe this year.

Or the next one.

7700934

Prosperous

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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2018 •

LOBSTER OUTLOOK

B5

n AQUACULTURE STUDY

Study documents lobster fishermen’s concerns with finfish aquaculture Field studies expected to start in the spring

Specific areas of concern raised by fishermen included:

KATHY JOHNSON TRICOUNTY VANGUARD REGIONAL

While there were no real surprises in the findings, for the first time lobster fishermen’s concerns about the impact of finfish aquaculture on the lobster fishery have been documented in a scientific manner.

Released in 2015, the study – Defining Lobster Fishermen’s Concerns about the Impact of Finfish Aquaculture on Lobsters and Lobster Fishing Communities in Nova Scotia: A Pilot Study – was funded by the Nova Scotia Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture and conducted by the UniversitÊ Sainte-Anne Laboratory of Innovation in Science and Industry.

Study co-ordinator and author Roger Gervais gave an overview of the report and its significance at this fall’s South West Lobster Forum in Yarmouth.

This pilot study has two objectives. The first is to develop a clear and concise understanding of what concerns are most pressing for the Nova Scotia lobster industry with regard to finfish aquaculture, especially in southwestern Nova Scotia. The second is to help set the foundation for future studies according to these concerns. “These research programs are to form the backbone of systematic, scientific answers to lobster fishermen’s concerns about the impact of finfish on lobster,� Gervais said.

KATHY JOHNSON

Dr. Roger Gervais from UniversitÊ Sainte-Anne gives an overview on the study – Defining Lobster Fishermen’s Concerns about the Impact of Finfish Aquaculture on Lobsters and Lobster Fishing Communities in Nova Scotia: A Pilot Study – at the South West Lobster Forum this fall.

Gervais said 33 lobster fishermen in 10 communities in five counties that are part of LFAs (Lobster Fishing Areas) 33, 34, and 35 (Queens, Shelburne, Yarmouth and Digby and Annapolis) took part in face-to-face interviews, or in one of the five focus groups. It was an open and transparent process, giving researchers insight into lobster fishermen’s environmental concerns and socio-political concerns that are “now documented as something representative of the fishermen,� said Gervais.

The study recommended to government three research programs based on lobster fishermen and key community stakeholders’ concerns about and perceptions of net-pen finfish aquaculture,

said Gervais, including an evaluation of standard operating procedures for site management with respect to fishermen’s concerns; an evaluation of the socioeconomic effects of aquaculture in Nova Scotia; and the impact of farm discharges, including organic waste (uneaten deed and feces) inorganic waste (dissolved nutrients), pesticides, and heavy metals ln the benthic habitat, lobster populations and other organisms.

Since the pilot study was released, the province has been working with the UniversitĂŠ Saint-Anne, with advice from the Aquaculture Science Advisory Committee, to design and execute field projects to help address common concerns, said Chrissy

Matheson, spokesperson for the provincial Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture. “This work is ongoing, and we are committed to sharing the results with fishermen as they become available,� she said. “Sound scientific research takes time to plan, prepare and execute. This project involves several project collaborators, regulatory authorizations and a specific timeline for execution. It was important that there was a high degree of confidence in the project design and it has taken time to reach an understanding and agreement between the people involved in the project,� Matheson said. “In addition, once the final experimental design was determined, there were several as-

• the impact of heavy metals and antifouling agents (i.e. copper, zinc, cadmium) contained in feed on benthic vertebrates; • the impact of pesticides used for treatment of sea lice on benthic invertebrates; • the reproductive ability and health of adult and larval lobster near salmon farms, pesticide accumulation in lobsters and other non-target organisms, wild salmon reproduction and mortality in rivers adjacent to salmon net pen farms, proliferation of fish and shellfish as well as human pathogens in the aquatic environment; • the impact of organic waste (uneaten feed and feces) on the benthic environment beneath and surrounding farm site; • and the impact of nutrient enrichment due to heavy loading or organic and inorganic farm waste on the marine environment, specifically with respect to the occurrence of algal blooms and low oxygen levels.

pects of the project that required authorizations from other government departments and that too took time. The design and authorizations were completed this summer, and the exciting field work will begin in the spring.�

Matheson said there has been a lot of good work done on addressing lobster/fish farming interactions in Atlantic Canada, but the province would like to address the specific concerns raised

by Nova Scotia lobster fishermen. “Understanding and addressing the concerns of lobster fishermen and others regarding finfish aquaculture is important to our department,� she said.

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B6

LOBSTER OUTLOOK • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2018

TRICOUNTYVANGUARD.CA

n FISHERIES DICTIONARY

Lobster Terms 101 Here is a glossary of terms you might hear thrown around as this year’s lobster season gets underway.

BANDING: Placing a strong elastic around the claws of the live lobster allowing for handling among harvesters, buyers and processors. It also helps to control quality of the lobsters. Banding is done on the fishing vessel when lobsters are taken out of the traps.

BANDERS: Extra crewmembers that are hired on boats to help band the lobsters in the first few weeks of the season in the fall when catches tend to be higher.

BERRIED LOBSTER: A female with eggs under her tail. Under Canadian law berried lobsters must be returned to the sea.

CARAPACE: The body shell.

The carapace of a lobster is measured from the back of the eye sockets to the end of the body shell to determine legal size. The tail is not included in this measurement.

CRUSHER: The larger of the two claws on a lobster.

CULL: A lobster with one or no claws, which is normally sold at a lower price. There is often debate as to whether or not culls should be landed.

HARD SHELL: The term that describes a lobster whose shell has fully hardened after moulting.

Hard-shelled lobsters yield more meat than soft shell or shedders, and are therefore considered better quality.

LFA (LOBSTER FISHING AREAS): Atlantic Canada is divided into fishing regions or zones.

These LFAs have their own applicable fishing seasons. Some conservations measures may differ from LFA to LFA. LOBSTER CAR: You won’t drive this on the highway. This is a large wooden structure that sits under the water in which fishermen can store crates of live

CARLA ALLEN PHOTO

Kirk Nickerson holds a board for Christian Frankelton to saw as they work at constructing two lobster cars at the Yarmouth Bar on Oct. 16.

lobster.

PINCHER CLAW: Of the claws on a lobster, it is the smaller one.

POPSICLE PACK: It’s not something that children lick on a hot summer day. This is a term used to describe a whole cooked lobster that is packed in brine in a cello sleeve and frozen.

SHEDDERS: This term describes lobsters that are in the moulting or soft-shell stage of growth.

SOFT SHELL: This describes a lobster after it moults or sheds its

hard shell. The new shell that replaces it remains soft for a period of time to help the lobster grow.

Fishermen generally want to avoid catching soft-shelled lobsters since the meat yield is lower and the quality not as good.

TAGS: A plastic marker on a trap that identifies that the trap is being legally fished by a licensed fishermen.

TOMALLEY: The green-coloured liver of a lobster.

TIRED: What fishermen are after a long day on the water.

TINA COMEAU

A berried lobster is a female carrying eggs. It is illegal to land berried lobsters.

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TRICOUNTYVANGUARD.CA

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2018 •

LOBSTER OUTLOOK

B7

n PLASTIC TRAPS

KATHY JOHNSON

Scott Dauphine (second from right) talks with Shelburne County lobster fisherman Maurice Shand at the SWNS Lobster Forum in September. Dauphine has developed a plastic trap he says should last 10 years if it’s handled right. Also having a yarn are lobster fishermen Joey Goodick, who has fished the plastic traps, and Charles Kenney (left).

Plastic lobster traps boost longevity, says developer KATHY JOHNSON TRICOUNTY VANGUARD With a projected lifespan of at least 10 years, longevity is the biggest feature of a new-age plastic lobster trap that should appeal to fishermen, says developer Scott Dauphine.

A native of Yarmouth County, Dauphine returned home several years ago after spending almost two decades working internationally in the oil and gas industry and started the Lobster Trap Company as a concept.

“I was looking for an industry that needed innovation, change, some new engineering and ideas and I came across lobster traps,” he says. “The material has not changed in almost 50 years. They have been made out of wire mesh since the ‘70s. It was invented in the ‘70s and was started as a way to patch the wooden traps and evolved into making traps out of that.”

Working with Dalhousie University, Memorial University, and the NSCC Ignite Lab at the Burridge Campus, Dauphine spent almost a year doing engineering and design work before

KATHY JOHNSON

The Lobster Trap Company generation two plastic lobster traps.

coming up with a generation-one prototype.

“It was patented before we built it and we fished it ourselves with an experimental licence that allowed us to fish the trap but not keep the lobster, which was fine,” he says.

“We wanted to prove the trap. It worked fantastic and exceeded our expectations of what we thought it would do.”

The traps were then given to local fishermen to test, who pro-

vided Dauphine with feedback.

“Everyone has their tweaks, their secret recipe, what’s important to them and what’s not important and we tried to incorporate that into the trap,” he says.

“And we went from generation one to generation two with the improvements recommended from the fishermen.”

From the generation-one prototype to the generation-two model, Dauphine said he made more than 50 changes, such as

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incorporating handles into the traps, improving the centre of gravity to guarantee the trap lands upright, and optional interlocking stackability. The traps are made from a high-grade industrial-type plastic, which has a negative buoyancy, so it sinks on its own, says Dauphine.

The plastic has additives in it for UV protection and can be manufactured in whatever colour the customer requests.

“The biggest feature for fishermen is the longevity of the trap,” says Dauphine. “A traditional wire trap has a lifespan of about five years depending on how it’s handled and the grounds it’s fished.

“This trap, a minimum of 10 years if it’s looked after, and that could easily double, so it’s about the capital investment they spend every year and the money and time it will save them,” he says, when it comes to maintenance and upkeep.

Dauphine says the longevity of the traps has been determined through accelerated testing at Dalhousie University, with which he has been working very closely on the engineering side, and

Memorial University, which has physically fished the trap continuously for just over a year.

“I feel very confident in that,” he says.

The traps are also recyclable and will come with a rebate program.

“The trap is going to be produced using a percentage of recycled material and at the back end of it, when that trap is ready to retire, we as a company will buy that trap back through a rebate program, a trade-in on new traps,” Dauphine says. “We, as a company, will close the loop on the recycling program. We want that trap back. It gets it out of the ocean and landfill and can be recycled back into another product.”

Dauphine hopes to begin taking orders for the traps at the start of the new year and to be manufacturing them by the spring for the next season.

go online

For further information, visit

http://thelobstertrapcompany.com/

Wishing All Fishers a Safe & Successful Season!

Mayor, Councillors & Staff

LOBSTER OUTLOOK • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2018

B8

TRICOUNTYVANGUARD.CA

n OIL & GAS

‘Huge implications for everyone’ Fishermen urged to take notice, action on offshore petroleum exploration issues KATHY JOHNSON TRICOUNTY VANGUARD REGIONAL

Lobster fishermen should be sitting up and taking notice of what’s happening in Nova Scotia’s offshore when it comes to oil and gas exploration – this was a message delivered at the fall SWNS Lobster Forum in Yarmouth.

Changes in federal legislation, two industrial accidents at offshore drilling sites within the last two years and pending seismic activity near Georges Bank and the North Atlantic right whale critical habitat in Roseway Basin are among the reasons fishermen should be keeping a close eye on what is happening, they were told.

The message was delivered by Marilyn Keddy, chair of the South Shore Chapter of the Council of Canadians, and John Davis, director of the Clean Action Ocean Committee (COAC).

The Council of Canadians, one of the largest social activist organizations in the country, has taken on the Campaign to Protect Offshore Nova Scotia “as a national campaign,” said Keddy.

An online petition has been calling for BP Canada to stop drilling exploratory wells in the Scotian Basin and calls for changes to the federal government’s Bill C-69, which will give offshore petroleum boards more say around environmental assessments.

“So, when someone says to you no one cares about this issue, it’s not true,” Keddy said. “My hope is to be able to work closely with your organizations around eliminating the risks associated around offshore drilling. It’s too late to save the fishery after a

KATHY JOHNSON PHOTO

KATHY JOHNSON PHOTO

Marilyn Keddy, Chair of the South Shore Chapter of the Council of Canadians.

John Davis, director of the Clean Action Ocean Committee (COAC).

blow out.”

Keddy said oil and gas exploration is being conducted on the Scotian Shelf “in conditions where there is no global precedence” and in waters “twice as deep as in the Gulf of Mexico with tide and weather conditions far fiercer.”

“The lack of industry experience requires additional regulatory requirements, not vague and relaxed regulatory requirements,” she said, saying the Campaign to Protect Offshore Nova Scotia does not think it is worth the risk to the sustainable fishery, coastal communities and climate.

“Are you willing to take that risk with your livelihood?” she asked.

It was pointed out that accidents do happen in the exploratory stage. In 2016 when Shell was drilling on the Scotian Shelf two

they have, and they are working with minimum regulatory oversight,” he said.

He referenced some federal bills that “have huge implications for everyone in this room.” Bill C-22, which received Royal Assent in 2017, he said, gives oil companies “the right to spray chemical dispersants into the water in the event of an oil spill and pretend what they are doing is cleaning up.”

Bill C-55 deals with Marine Protected Areas (MPA). Davis said it calls for increases in the penalties and fines for any fishing boat caught in an MPA while at the same time it provides compensation to any oil company out there denied access for drilling within that MPA. “So the oil industry gets compensation and you get more regulations and higher fines,” he said.

kilometres of pipe was dropped that landed 12 metres from the well head.

This year BP Canada Energy Group ULC made an unauthorized discharge of 136 cubic metres of synthetic based drilling mud just a month into drilling the first of as many as seven exploratory wells in the Scotian Basin.

The Canada Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board (CNSOPB) determined a loose connection in the mud booster line to be the cause.

John Davis, COAC director, said the fix in that case adds to the concern they have over the level of regulatory oversight that exists.

“We work in a highly regulated industry and we make it work and have a sustainable fishery because we make it work, and the oil and gas industry are out there because of the power of the lobby

Davis also sounded the alarm bells about pending seismic activity in Exploration Licences 2435 and 2436, which are near Georges Bank and Roseway Basin. The two parcels were leased to Statoil Canada by the CNSOPB in 2015 and cover areas of 3677 square kilometres and 2842 square km respectively. The application to conduct seismic activity by Statoil (now called Equinor said Davis) was pending final approval from the CNSOPB. “We have to take action and we have to work together,” said Davis. “Above and beyond everything else you have to accomplish and all the other work you have to do, you have to protect yourself from poor regulation, poor bureaucratic oversight and against the greed of the oil and gas industry. Nobody is going to do it for us.”

South Shore Subaru would like to wish fisherman in zones 33 and 34 a safe and prosperous lobster season.

To our fishers: “May the winds be light, your traps be full and your feet stay clear of the ropes.”

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TRICOUNTYVANGUARD.CA

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2018 •

LOBSTER OUTLOOK

B9

n TIME TO EAT

Ways to prepare lobster There are many ways to prepare lobster.

Here are some ways as described on the website www.tastelobster.ca.

BOILING Use sufficient salted water to fully cover the lobsters and bring to a rolling boil. Grasp the lobster by the back and plunge it headfirst into the boiling water. Cover and simmer 7-10 minutes for the first pound in 2-3 minutes for each additional pound. Remember to increase the cooking time if more than one lobster is in the pot.

Once the lobster is cooked, remove it from the water. The lobster will continue to cook in its shell even when removed from the cooking liquid —so take them out just before they are cooked or cook until done and then place into iced water to cool and stop the cooking process. If you plan to serve the lobster cold,

refrigerate it until needed.

If you want to be creative try adding carrots, onion, white wine and a bouquet of herbs to the cooking liquid. If you eliminate the salt, you can reserve the cooking water for soups or sauces.

n RECIPES

Lobster on the menu Here are a few lobster recipes to try out.

Lobster Bisque Ingredients 3 tbsp Minced Onion 2 tbsp Red Pepper, finely diced 2 tbsp Yellow Pepper, finely diced 2 tbsp Green Pepper, finely diced 1 c. Fennel Bulb, finely diced 1 tbsp Butter 4 oz. Lobster Meat chopped 1 tsp Anise Seed 1 tsp Spanish Paprika 1/3 c. White Wine 1/3 c. Chicken Stock 1 c. Heavy Cream Salt & Pepper

Method In a shallow sauce pot over medium-high heat add butter, onions, peppers and fennel.

Sauté for 2-3 minutes until tender. Add anise seed, paprika and lobster meat. Continue to sauté for another minute.

Then add white wine and chicken stock to vegetable and lobster mixture. Reduce for 1 minute and then add cream, season with salt and pepper and simmer for 2-3 minutes until slightly thickened.

Servings: 4 Source Lobster Council of Canada

Lobster Butter Delicately pink, delicious butter can be served on fish, lobster or vegetables. Adds richness to seafood chowder, bisque, soup or cream sauce.

Dry the reserved shell of a large lobster in the oven for 15 minutes at 120°C (250°F). Place shell into a sturdy plastic bag and crush or pound until fine.

Melt half a pound of butter in a double boiler and add the ground shell and 2 tablespoons of water.

Simmer 10 minutes, being careful not to let it boil. Line a sieve with cheesecloth or a coffee filter and strain into a bowl of ice water.

Refrigerate. Skim off the lobster butter when hard.

STEAMING Put half an inch of water, a tablespoon of salt and a tablespoon of vinegar in the pot and bring to a boil. Put the live lobsters in the pot, cover and steam for 15 minutes for a 1-pound lobster. Add 5 minutes for each extra pound.

POACHED Lobsters benefit from poaching because their natural flavour can be complemented by the addition of aromatic herbs and seasonings.

To enhance poaching, prepare poaching liquid in one pan with herbs and seasonings such as lemon, chives, onion and celery. The liquid should be sufficient to completely cover the lobster. Simmer liquid to blend flavours.

Have a second pan of water at a full rolling boil. Place the lobster headfirst into the boiling water for 1-2 minutes. Remove the

lobster from the boiling water and transfer to the poaching liquid. Cover tightly and simmer gently (without boiling) until done. Test by tugging on antenna, or small leg, which will pull easily away when fully cooked.

Pre-cooked lobster meat can be very gently poached for short period of time, just to heat it. For a particularly pleasing end result, wrap lobster meat, lemon zest, parsley or chives, a dash of garlic and white wine in plastic wrap. (Substitution: orange zest, dill, pepper and orange juice) Place in simmering water and cook 2-3 minutes. The possibilities are endless when poaching live or precooked lobster.

BROIL Delicious at its simplest lay a split lobster on a broiling pan and brush lightly with butter; place in the broiler about 4 inches below the flame/element. A 1 1/2 pound lobster takes approximately 15 minutes to cook. Serve with drawn butter and lemon wedges. Use your own marinade or basting sauce or remove the meat and combine with a stuffing... the possibilities are endless.

Lobster Shannon Ingredients 2 tablespoons butter 2 tablespoons flour 1 cup fish stock or reserved lobster juice linguini or fettucini to serve 4 1/2 cup white wine 2 tablespoons lemon juice 1/4 teaspoon freshly crushed peppercorn 1 can frozen lobster meat (11.3 ounces) 1/2 cup heavy cream (35% m.f.)

Method Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat. Add flour, blending well. Whisk in stock. Bring to a boil, stirring until the first bubbles appear.

Reduce the heat and cook 30 minutes, stirring frequently.

Prepare pasta according to package directions until al dente.

Mix together the wine, lemon juice, pepper and lobster in a large skillet. Quickly sauté until warmed, add sauce, heavy cream and cooked pasta. Simmer gently 3 to 4 minutes.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Servings: 4 Source www.tastelobster.ca

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LOBSTER OUTLOOK • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2018

B10

TRICOUNTYVANGUARD.CA

n COLUMN

A fisherman’s dreams of things to come Laurent d’Entremont Stories from our Past

The information for the following story is taken from the writings of Leon S. d’Entremont (1905-1997) who was a first cousin to my mother.

Leon only managed to get published twice in his entire long life.

His first story appeared in the Yarmouth Vanguard as a special.

The title was: Seafood, Sea Salt and Centenarians and gave credit for longevity to those who ate lots of haddock, cod, eels, smelts and shellfish. His next effort was a small fictional booklet published 30 years ago. The title of this publication is “Nightmare at Rockbound Harbour” and it is about a fisherman having a nightmare of

all the bad things that could happen to the fisheries. One can assume that “Rockbound Harbour” is the harbour between East and West Pubnico, Yarmouth County.

Leon did not use the real names of the places he writes about, but close enough to know where they are.

Poolliver, Mouthyar and Burnshel are easy enough to identify, he also mentioned an ambulance speeding up Poolquin Road in Faxihal. He did not feel like using the real names as it was fictional writing, but I think perhaps he should have.

The story begins in 1973-74 at Rockbound Harbour in South Western Nova Scotia. A lobster fisherman had just finished eating his supper, had a whiskey toddy and promptly went to sleep in his easy chair.

The man’s mind was catapulted into the future, he was standing at ‘Dale’s Arm Rotary’ and many ambulances were going by with victims of radio active Strontium

90 because a chemical plant in a country nearby had exploded with devastating results. Our lucrative fishing grounds were ruined and this poisonous stuff was wind driven in our direction to fall on our heads.

To make matter worst the Wall Street stock market dropped like a lead balloon and the Sheiks of Arabie and the Latin’s who had been running the financial world were also going broke.

As if this was not bad enough, now a giant super tanker with 500,000 tons of crude oil runs aground near ‘Sealhaven Island’ polluting and ruining all our lucrative lobster grounds.

Now, he wrote, fishermen who were making a good decent living were reduced to beggars like their fathers of 40 or 50 years ago and forced to live off the land as their ancestors did. Dead fish and birds were washing ashore and starvation was on the people’s mind.

Climate changed to being much warmer resulting in lobsters becoming limp and sickly. Very few were healthy enough to enter lobster traps. The bacteria content of the water rose alarmingly.

All this as a result of a large country beyond the great ocean whose starving people had been fed by countries in the west and had recently built nuclear power plants to conquer the world. Now they were ready to eat the hand that had fed them before, through some lean years.

This was only a dream of the wild imagination of the author.

But Leon S. d’Entremont had predicted one more thing, and warned of the danger that could happen. And I quote from page # 23 of his book: “Some bumbling idiot (may) pulls the wrong switch to a still-to-be-invented device that will electrify every particle in the electromagnetic field in the whole atmospheric cushion that

links up to every living organism around the earth and burn and destroy them all, which will leave the earth an arid worthless wasteland, like the moon, after which, nothing will matter. If science and technology, with their inventors keep on developing devilish devices of destruction, this may become a possibility.”

Of course it was only a dream, a nightmare to be sure, created from the imagination of Leon S. d’Entremont. Let’s hope that none of these things will ever happen and that our profitable fishing ground will last a long, long time.

But I’ll say this, I knew Leon S. well – actually I wrote his obituary when he left us in 1997. He was well read, informed and worldly, having been to Australia during his youth and he certainly had a vivid imagination when he put his pen to paper. laudent@hotmail.com

n PHOTO OPT

Count on seeing unusual lobsters this season The landing of unusual lobsters isn’t an unusual occurrence during the lobster season.

Still, in saying that, the unusual lobsters are still very rare given the huge volume of lobster landed

during a season.

In recent seasons there have been lobsters of different colours landed: blue, yellow, white, orange, even a red one was pulled out of the water – usually a colour reserved for when

lobsters are cooked. There have even been some with extra claws.

If you catch any odd looking lobsters this season be sure to send along a photo and info about the catch to info@tricountyvanguard.ca.

TINA COMEAU

CONTRIBUTED

This four-clawed lobster was caught on the Ashley Alissa, which fishes out of Abbot’s Harbour in Pubnico, during a previous lobster season.

This two-tone lobster was landed aboard the French Lily and caught in False Harbour during a previous lobster season, although it’s not the only two-toned lobster this newspaper has photographed before.

ANDREW GOREHAM

This strange ghostly white lobster was caught in the first few days of a previous lobster season.

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TRICOUNTYVANGUARD.CA

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2018 •

LOBSTER OUTLOOK

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n COMMUNITY TRADITION

‘Tis the season for Barrington’s lobster pot tree

KATHY JOHNSON

A child is held up to watch as fireworks light the night sky during last year’s Lobster Pot Christmas Tree lighting.

KATHY JOHNSON TRICOUNTY VANGUARD BARRINGTON

‘Tis the season for the Municipality of Barrington’s Lobster Pot Christmas Tree, which will be lit for the season on Thursday, Nov. 22 at 7 p.m. on the North East Point waterfront on Cape Sable Island.

A community tradition since 2009, for the past four years buoys in memory of those lost at sea, fishermen who have passed on and in recognition of those that are fishing on the water have been added as part of the tradition.

“The tree tells a story now,” says Suzy Atwood tourism and community development coordinator for the municipality.

“It was a great initiative to take something we do as part of our livelihood and build a Christmas tree, but now when people come to look at the buoys, they read the names and reflect on those who have been lost at sea or passed on,” she says.

Atwood says the community response to the initiative has been “unbelievable.”

“Every year we get more added to the tree. People will come and put their own buoy on after we put it up,” she says, estimating more than 150 buoys were on last year’s tree.

“For some families it’s hard to

KATHY JOHNSON

A choir gets ready to sing in front of the Lobster Pot Christmas Tree during the lighting festivities last year.

Wishing a Safe & Prosperous Lobster Season to all.

and

Waterview Machine Works Wishing our Lobster Fishermen a Safe and Prosperous Season!

put that buoy on the tree, but for others its very comforting to come and see that,” Atwood says, adding people have messaged her saying how much it means to them.

At least 200 lobster traps are used to build the lobster pot tree.

“They are all recycled traps, so they’re traps that have been seen the bottom of the ocean and caught there share of lobsters.

We get them from the C&D Landfill. We pick out the best ones, the safest and the sturdiest.”

This year the lobster pot Christmas tree is going to be even more colourful.

“It used to be all green lobster traps but this year you’re going to find a variety of colours in the tree because more and more fishermen are moving away from the green lobster traps and using yellow, pink and white and every other colour,” Atwood says. “I think it will make the tree a little bit brighter. Its all part of who we are.”

It takes the property services team several days to build the tree, which can be watched on the Nova Scotia webcam.

The lobster pot tree lighting, which is followed by fireworks, is the start of the Municipality’s annual Christmas at the Causeway (formerly Festival of Lights) celebration.

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LOBSTER OUTLOOK • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2018

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TRICOUNTYVANGUARD.CA

n COMMUNITY

Live Well Challenge one for the books Estimated that more than $1 million was raised for charities KATHY JOHNSON TRICOUNTY VANGUARD

Bite me: Newell followed through on promise $5,985 raised in fundraiser that was also a bit of selfinflicted payback

REGIONAL

Last season’s Live Well Challenge Take the Plunge is one for the books of the southwestern Nova Scotia lobster fishery.

Initiated by Cape Sable Island lobster fisherman Todd Newell in January on social media as a way to help the families affected by a house fire in Pubnico on Jan. 7 that claimed the lives of four young children, Newell challenged a few fellow fishermen to jump in their live wells and pledge $1,000 to charities of their choice in memory of a loved one.

He had hoped to get 100 other fishing captains to take part, videotaping their dips into the icy waters of a live well, each donating $1,000 to charity of choice.

Within two weeks, more than 700 people from throughout the Maritimes and beyond had taken up the challenge, raising upwards of $700,000 for numerous charitable causes, and nominating others across Canada and the U.S. to do the same. One dip took place in Australia.

From jumping into freezing cold live well holding units on boats, to a dive off the top of a wheelhouse or the stern of a boat into the local harbour, to backflips into an onshore lobster holding tank, participation came from virtually every sector of the lobster-fishing industry, as well as the fishing industry at large.

Men, women, children, sports teams, business owners, corporate and government employees and politicians took the plunge in one way or another. Some put their own spin on the challenge, diving into swimming pools,

n STEPPING UP

BY KATHY JOHNSON AND TINA COMEAU TRICOUNTY VANGUARD CAPE SABLE ISLAND

KATHY JOHNSON

Cape Sable Island lobster fisherman Todd Newell came up with the idea of the Live Well Challenge and the lobster and fishing industry ran with it.

KATHY JOHNSON

Josh Link goes under while taking the Live Well Challenge aboard the Cameron and Girls at the Newellton wharf.

chopping ice to take a river dip, getting hosed down in a car wash,

even splashing into a bubble bath, all for fun and charity.

Some local students got in on the fun with a read well challenge.

The pay-it-forward movement captured the attention, imagination and generosity of people far and wide.

Newell estimates more than $1 million was raised for countless charities with more than 1,000 people participating.

“I never thought it would go that far,” said Newell, thanking everyone who participated.

“I hope they felt half the pride I felt,” he said, adding the way everyone in rural communities looks out for each other and pulls together is “why I love living in a small town.”

Cape Sable Island fisherman Todd Newell grimaced in pain on the way in from a lobster fishing trip on Feb. 15.

That’ll happen when a lobster clamps down on the side of your hand.

And it wasn’t accidental, it was intentionally.

The Cape Sable Island fishermen let a lobster bite him, so to speak, to raise money for a father from the region who is battling a rare form of cancer.

Newell, the fisherman who started the Live Well Challenge threw together another fundraiser to help Jordan Morgan from the Digby area. The treatment Morgan required to fight his cancer, at the time, was both expensive and not covered by the province’s health plan.

So Newell asked for donations of $20, to raise money to help Morgan.

As a reward for supporting this fundraiser – and a bit of payback for those who had jumped and dived into freezing cold water through the Live Well Challenge – Newell said he would let a lobster clamp down on his hand.

Newell raised a total of $5,985 for the cause.

CONTRIBUTED

KATHY JOHNSON

There was never a shortage of photos and videos being taken during the Live Well Challenge.

Cape Sable Island fisherman Todd Newell let a lobster clamp down on his hand to raise money for a father battling a rare form of cancer.

Wishing All our Lobster fishermen a Very Safe & Successful Season!

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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2018 •

LOBSTER OUTLOOK

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n BUSINESS

Belliveau’s Cove lobster outfit goes belly up

BY AARON BESWICK SALTWIRE NETWORK BELLIVEAU’S COVE

A company charged with purchasing lobster caught out of season by Aboriginal fishermen went into receivership this fall.

Grant Thornton is acting as receiver for Guang Da International.

The company was charged this spring by Fisheries and Oceans Canada with purchasing lobster caught under an Aboriginal communal fishing licence that doesn’t allow for sale.

Fisheries and Oceans began investing Guang Da in 2017 when tensions rose on the south shore around allegations that Aboriginal fishermen were catch-

ing and selling lobster before the opening of the commercial season.

Two boats were burned at the height of the 2017 fishing dispute – whether linked it was never proven.

During the investigation a shipment of lobster belonging to Guang Da was seized by fisheries officers before it could be loaded

onto a plane at Halifax Stanfield International Airport and the company’s lobster pound in Belliveau’s Cove was searched.

That 7,184-square-foot facility was being auctioned off to pay creditors.

Also included in the sale are a 2018 Hino 268 truck with insulated reefer box, a 2008 Toyota propane-powered forklift, a 40-

foot freezer container and carrier, an 18-foot Cape Islander with 115-horsepower Mercury outboard, 10-tonne refrigeration unit, lobster containers, trays and gear.

Guang Da International lists as its president as Sheng Ren Zheng.

Zheng’s listed mailing address is for a home in Mississauga, Ontario.

n SEASONS ELSEWHERE

Mixed reviews: P.E.I. lobster fishermen report up-and-down fall season SATWIRE NETWORK SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I.

Traps across Lobster Fishing Area (LFA) 25 came out of the water Wednesday, Oct. 10, marking the end of a mixed bag of a fall lobster season.

On the Summerside waterfront, Merrill Montgomery, captain of the Salty Curls, and his crew spent the morning hauling up traps, loading them onto a truck and getting them set for winter storage. All things considered, he was pleased with how his things went.

“Season was great, fantastic.

Weather was great, catch was great and price was – pretty good,” he said.

In terms of prices for his catch, he reported getting $4.50 per pound for canners and $5 per pound for markets at the start of the season, but it dropped by 25 cents after a couple of weeks.

Captains just across the Northumberland Strait, he noted, were getting an average of about 25 cents more per pound than those landing on P.E.I., which remained a point of annoyance for harvest-

COLIN MACLEAN /SALTWIRE NETWORK FILE

Captains and crews across Lobster Fishing Area 25 hauled in their traps for the last time this year Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018.

ers here on P.E.I. “It doesn’t make sense when you’re fishing right next to them,” said Montgomery.

Lee Knox, president of the Prince County Fishermen’s Association, said the prices Mont-

gomery quoted were standard this year.

In terms of the catch, it wasn’t as good for everyone, Knox said.

Landings were up notably from last year in the southern section of LFA 25, he said, but down just

as significantly from Miminegash north to Tignish. Official numbers on the fall catch won’t be available for a few weeks.

“Every time we get a measure increase, the north end always has a decrease (in catches),” said Knox.

LFA 25 fishermen are adjusting to a third carapace increase in three years. The minimum measure was 72 mm until 2015.

This year fishermen had to throw back all lobster under 77 mm.

There seemed to be more of those smaller-sized lobster in the northern section of the zone, so harvesters have had to throw more lobsters back there. Traditionally, though, catches have naturally adjusted back up in years following a minimum carapace size increase, so captains are hopeful for a return to strong catches next year, Knox said.

He also noted this season took a tragic turn with the swamping of the Kyla Anne off North Cape on Sept. 18, in which Capt. Glen DesRoches and his longtime crewman Moe Getson died.

Those losses weighed heavy on fishermen, he said, and he knows of a number of captains who, after the incident, stayed in port on weather-filled days they would normally have braved.

“Anytime it was rough out, the winds were rolling quite hard … most fishermen stayed in,” he said.

HAVE A SAFE & BOUNTIFUL SEASON

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