Fishermen anticipate increased catches but lower returns

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BOUCTOUCHE - For more than 800 commercial lobster fishermen fishing Northumberland Strait waters, the next few weeks are going to be hectic as they prepare for the summer lobster fishing season. But it's with mixed feelings that the fishermen set sail.

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Greg Agnew/Times & Transcript

Lobster traps and boats are lined up at Pointe-du-Chêne and wharves around the area getting ready for the annual lobster season. Fisherman will set traps on Aug. 9.

The season in the southern gulf officially begins Saturday, Aug. 9, when fishermen are allowed to set their traps but there is already talk of heading west in mid-season when daily catches traditionally drop to find more lucrative employment.

There are too many fishermen for the resource and the prices being offered for their catches, said Jean-Eudes Poirier of Bouctouche, spokesman for the south-east local of the Maritime Fishermen's Union and a lobster fisherman himself.

Last year, fishermen in Lobster Fishing Area 25 which takes in Northumberland Strait waters from Pointe Sapin south to Cape Tormentine and across to Prince Edward Island saw the landings increase by about 10 per cent after years of spiralling catches. However, the price paid for their lobster took a nose dive from $5 and $5.50 a pound for canner size and the larger market variety respectively to $4 and $4.50.

The belief is that catches will continue to increase but rumours suggest prices could drop further to $3 and $3.50 a pound, he said.

Last year saw a catches increase by 10 per cent and prices drop by 15 per cent, he said, to the point that fishermen are having a tough time making ends meet with increased fuel costs and the price of lobster bait. Diesel fuel went from 80 cents a litre to $1.50 a litre this year, he said. That could represent as much as $4,000 more in fuel cost for the season, meaning the fishermen has to land at least 1,000 pounds more lobster to compensate.

Part of the problem is due to the strong Canadian dollar on the U.S. market and the downturn in the U.S. market, he said. Buyers claim they still have inventories from the spring commercial fishery in the northeast sector of the province and a decreased market demand.

The loss of processing plants which closed down after the dollar climbed in value hasn't helped since it lessened the competition for the lobster, Poirier noted.

One solution is to buy out a number of fishing licences so that the remaining fishermen can hope for increased landings and therefore higher revenues, he said.

The MFU has been pressing the federal government to buy out as many as a third of the exiting licences but the government continues to resist.

There are many fishermen 75 years of age or older still fishing because they can't afford to stop without a buyer for their boats and equipment, he said. The average age of today's in shore commercial lobster fishermen is 55.

Poirier said he has heard several fishermen claim ready to travel to western provinces to find work after the first two weeks of fishing when half of the season's landings are usually caught.

About the only encouragement is that more young lobsters were found in traps last summer suggesting better times ahead.

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans released its 2008 Lobster Fishery Management Plan for LFA 25 this week setting minimum size for lobsters and maximum size for allowable female lobster catches as part of conservation measures, unchanged from last year.

The season ends Oct. 10.