By Andy Walker
FOR THE SOU’WESTER
Transcontinental Media
Fishermen in P.E.I.’s largest lobster fishing zone will continue to be able to set a maximum of 300 traps this spring.
The decision was announced recently by Peter Boertien, Chair of the Lobster Fishing Area 24 Advisory Committee. Area 24 comprises the entire north coast of the province. Last year it accounted for 14.5 million pounds. The other two lobster fishing zones in the province had combined lands of just over nine million pounds.
The minimum carapace size of lobster for the spring season will be 71 millimeters, an increase of one millimetre over 2010. A reduction in the number of traps to be set from 300 to 290 and the one-millimetre carapace increase were both scheduled for 2011 as the first stage in a three-year program aimed at making the fishery more sustainable.
However, before the program can be fully implemented the Department of Fisheries and Oceans has to amend previously approved licence conditions. The department is now making arrangements to get the full complement of tags to harvesters in advance of the season.
Boertein said the first stage of trap reduction has been deferred by one year to reduce the impact of increasing the carapace size of lobster allowed for harvesting in the first year of the sustainability program. He said deferring the first stage of the trap reduction was decided on in a consultation and vote by port representatives.
The one-millimetre carapace increase for 2011 is part of changes taking place under the Atlantic Lobster Sustainability Measures Program (ALSMP) of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. The goal of that program is to implement measures in the fishery to enhance the sustainability of the resource which are consistent with the unique needs which vary from one lobster fishing area to another.
Boertein, who fishes out of the eastern P.E.I. port of Souris, took over as chair of the advisory committee after Francis Morrissey resigned in February. He continues as the port representative for Seacow Pond and said in his resignation letter “the measures that have been submitted will, in my view, keep our fishery viable and sustainable for many years to come.
