By Tina Comeau
THE VANGUARD
NovaNewsNow.com
The 1688 Professional Lobster Fishermen Association isn’t wasting any time when it comes to focusing on the upcoming fall lobster season.
The commercial lobster season off southwestern Nova Scotia ended on May 31. On Tuesday, June 5, a meeting will be held at the Barrington Arena. The purpose of the 4 p.m. meeting is to talk about the upcoming fall lobster season.
“The sooner we start working on the fall season, the better prepared we will be,” states the association in a notice about the meeting.
All captains and crewmembers are encouraged to attend the meeting, even those who are not members of the association.
In saying that, the association is still encouraging people to join it and will be opening the doors at 3:30 p.m. to register new members.
The association formed in January, largely, at the time, in response to low lobster prices fishermen were receiving for their catches. At meetings the association and fishermen decided not to land their catches that month until the price went up to at least $5.50.
At the end of April, after an association meeting held in Barrington with fishermen, a decision was made to organize a strike, whereby fishermen were urged to stay ashore until buyers agreed to a committed price of $5.50 to the end of the season. Days into the strike fishermen said a committed price of $5 to the end of the season was also acceptable.
By the morning of May 5 the strike had ended. Not everyone had honoured the strike from the get-go and little by little more boats were venturing out to sea. A committed price to the end of the season never happened.
