Dartmouth, N.S. – With the season about to open for two of Nova Scotia's biggest lobster fishing areas, Fisheries and Oceans Canada is reminding lobsterharvesters and shippers to be vigilant in ensuring that their catch meets the legal requirements for the fishery. These requirements include restrictions on landing lobsters that are below a minimum size or retaining females that are egg bearing ("berried") or v-notched. A v-notch is a small notch cut into the tail of a lobster to indicate that it has recently been observed bearing eggs.
"A culture of conservation must prevail in our industry to ensure its sustainability," said Allan MacLean, Director of Conservation and Protection for DFO Maritimes. "The lobster industry is too important for us to allow it to be jeopardized by illegal and careless activity," he continued.
Nova Scotia's Lobster Fishing Areas 33 and 34, which open on November 29, are home to approximately 1,700 licence holders. These two areas alone produced lobster landings worth over $215 million last year (2009) and remain significant contributors to the economy of the southwestern portion of Nova Scotia. Most of the lobster caught in the southwestern Nova Scotia fishery ends up on US consumers' plates.
In order to reach the important US market, our valuable product has to first pass through the Canada/US border. In recent years, stepped-up surveillance and inspections of shipments of lobster at the Canada/US border crossing have caused significant delays in the movement of Canadian product to US markets. Unnecessary delays at the border could be significantly reduced if harvesters and shippers make sure that all the lobsters they land or ship meet all the Canadian fishery regulations and US entry requirements.
DFO Fishery Officers will be working at wharves and on the water throughout the season to ensure compliance with the rules. By working together we can help ensure the best possible outcome for this important fishery.
- 30 -
For more information:
DFO Communications
Dartmouth, N. S.
902-426-3550
NR-MAR-10-11E
