New Brunswick lobster catches increase significantly this year

Lobster catches in southwest New Brunswick again are up significantly this year over last year, since the season opened on November 11. In 2013 the catches at the start of the season had been up about 10%, and Laurence Cook, chair of the Lobster Sector of the Grand Manan Fishermen's Association, estimates catches are up by another 20% this year. Often at the beginning of the season fishermen might bring in 20 to 25 pounds per trap, but this year some have been hauling in nearly 30 pounds to the pot. "Everyone is doing at least as well as they ever have, and most are doing better."
Stuart McKay, manager of Paturel International's operations on Deer Island, says catches are up everywhere. Inshore fishermen are seeing catches about 10% greater, while Grand Manan and other offshore fishermen are seeing increases as high as 25% to 30%. On the first night after hauling, some boats were unloading up to 150 crates with 15,000 pounds of lobsters, while others had 5,000-10,000 pounds.
Cook also notes that the catches point to a healthy stock, with lobsters ranging in size from sublegal, to 2-3 pounds, to jumbos of 9-10 pounds. "The biomass looks incredibly good," he reports. "The catch in volume and size range is very, very good."
In addition to good catches, Cook notes that the weather during the first week of the season was calm, providing "a good, safe chance to set and to haul" for a change. Last year, the opening on Grand Manan had been delayed for three days because of wind. "It was one of the better days for setting traps that we've seen for quite a long time," comments McKay.
Reasons for the continually increasing catches are not clear. Cook notes that researchers often will predict that fishermen will not do as well the following year, but then catches end up being higher. While the surge in the lobster population has often been attributed in part to the decline in groundfish stocks, Cook observes, "There are more groundfish than I've seen in a long time, and catches are even higher."
Global warming also has been pointed to as one of the reasons. McKay explains that the warming of waters to the south has caused a northward migration of lobsters, with higher catches first being seen in the Gulf of Maine and now appearing in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Warm water temperatures, though, are stressful to lobsters, and in 1999 a record-breaking hot year in Long Island Sound led to an outbreak of shell disease that caused the population there to collapse.
In addition, lobsters are being fed by the bait in the traps, and a high percentage escape from the pots. Cook says that around Grand Manan the fishermen all use over-sized vents in their traps so smaller lobsters will escape and the fishermen will catch larger ones. McKay observes that there is some question whether there is enough food in the wild to sustain the population increase. Also, he points out that lobsters have been molting later, and fewer have a hard shell when the season opens in New Brunswick.
The price that fishermen are receiving is about the same as last year, at $4 to $4.50 a pound, but Cook notes that if a fisherman catches 20,000 pounds instead of 10,000, then the price is less critical if the profit margin is close for the fisherman.
McKay says many of the offshore lobsters are soft-shelled and are shipped to processors, so the price is about $4, plus perhaps a 25-cent bonus to the fisherman. The bonus is added by buyers as they compete among each other. Around Deer Island, Campobello and the nearby mainland, the quality is better and most of the lobsters are shipped for the live market. Fishermen have been receiving about $4.25 a pound, plus the 25-cent bonus.
McKay adds that the current exchange rate between Canadian and U.S. dollars helps with the price the fishermen are receiving. While the dollars were nearly at parity last year, now the U.S. dollar is worth about $1.12 Canadian. "It's allowed us to work higher on the boat prices than last fall," he says. If the exchange rate were same as last year, fishermen would be receiving about $3.50 a pound. "The industry largely trades in U.S. dollars," both for the U.S. and European markets, he says. "The boat price is based on that exchange rate."
Paturel sells about 60% of its product to the live lobster market and about 40% for processing. Its plant at Northern Harbour is employing 240 workers, which is 80 more than last year. About 120 to 140 Filipinos are working there, with others coming from the island, St. George and St. Stephen areas. "It's a very busy ferry in the mornings," McKay notes.
Paturel provides housing for the Filipinos, but about 20% have found their own places on the island or near St. George.

Grey zone gear pressure
Concerning the grey zone fishery this year in the disputed waters near Machias Seal Island, Cook says catches were "excellent." Also, more boats were fishing the area, which caused "a lot of gear pressure." The Canadian season in the zone, which is Lobster Fishing Area (LFA) 38B, runs from the first of July to just before the LFA 38 season opens on the second Tuesday of November. There were 40 to 41 Canadian boats this season, while usually there are about 30, and about 50 American vessels were fishing the area, too. "It caused hard feelings," this year, Cook observes, noting that about five Nova Scotia boats were fishing the zone, and they were not familiar with the gear setting patterns for the trawl lines. "The atmosphere was poor," he comments.
The Nova Scotia fishermen had bought licenses for LFA 38, so they were allowed to fish in the grey zone. Cook notes that a few years ago he had sought to buy a license in LFA 36 and was told that he could not. However, the residency clause in the Fisheries Act that required that licenses could only be sold to fishermen living in the area "has disappeared." Grand Manan fishermen have opposed the change "vehemently, to no avail," says Cook.
Noting the number of lobster licenses held by Grand Manan fishermen, Cook says that if just one leaves the island then "about one percent of our economic engine is gone." The objections of island fishermen, though, "have fallen on deaf ears" with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
Out of the 10 or 11 licenses for LFA 38 around Grand Manan that are now being used by Nova Scotia fishermen, Cook says about three had been held by non-Native fishermen and the rest were held by Natives. There are about 20 Native licenses for LFA 38, but Cook reports there "are no Native fishermen left working on the island."