A lovely spring day brought us to Malpeque on the north shore of central Prince Edward Island where the boat basin was a busy spot. The basin still has ice and though the lobster season in the area begins on April 29th, boats won’t be in the water for another few days. Most are stored in the yards of the fishers’ homes, though not all homes look like this one.
Meanwhile, the work has begun, as fishers prepare their gear such as traps for the busy season ahead.
We spoke with two fishermen there. One had purchased his fishing license many years ago for $120,000. Now the same licence goes for $7,000,000. He is retired from other work but continues to pursue lobsters every season for the two months this lucrative fishery is open.
Meanwhile, another man told us he still uses thirty-six of the old style lobster traps, the traditional ones with the curved design. The newer traps, a rectangular design, stack better on the boat. He had purchased fifty of the new ones recently, at a cost of $9,000 to replace some which had been damaged or lost.
We talked about Newfoundland and the cod fishery pursued by my grandfather out of Petty Harbour. He had used hand lines, with hooks baited with squid. Fishermen caught squid the evening before they left the harbour at daylight. Such a fishery was sustainable. Later, fishing trawlers, also known as daggers, larger vessels pulling nets behind them over the cod’s spawning grounds, destroyed the cod fishery which has been closed for over thirty years.
A sustainable fishery is the goal. However, warming sea water will affect fish and shellfish in this area. Last September, hurricane Fiona didn’t lose as much strength as normally happened when such systems passed over the colder waters of eastern Canada. Warm water feeds such a system. This past winter, the sea on the north shore of Prince Edward Island did not freeze. While the basin at Malpeque froze, the coastline didn’t. I fear hurricane season this year.
However, seasonal activity continues as daylight lengthens, winter snow melts, sea ice in the bay at Summerside moves with the wind and snow continues to fall occasionally. Undeterred by the tardiness of spring around here though, migrating birds are returning, such as the Great Blue Herons near Malpeque that day. It is spring on Canada’s east coast.
