PEI fishermen has more to think over due to declining catches and falling prices, which mean there is little cause for optimism as fall lobster fishermen head into the final month of their seasosn. It is expected that the landings to be around 10 percent below than last year. Fishermen are receiving $4 per pound for canners and $4.50 per pound for markets, down roughly 25 percent from prices paid last year.
Ed Frenette, executive director of the P.E.I. Fishermen’s Association, explained that every indication they receive is that landings from Victoria to Egmont Bay are hardest hit. Studies by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans have shown a drastic decline in fishers’ incomes in this area over the past decade as a result of lower landings primarily due to reasons beyond the control of fishermen.
According to Frenette for a number of years the PEIFA and other fishers’ groups in the Maritimes have been calling for a federally supported buy out of licenses in LFA-25. He added that the response from federal authorities has been a resounding no. He also said that the fishermen continually lose income and gradually go out of business. An immediate rationalization is needed to both reduce fishing pressure and to limit income loss to those remaining while allowing others to exit the industry with some dignity, says Frenette.
It is observe that there is another issue of concern to lobster fishermen which is the provincial moratorium on new processing facilities. Shelton Barlow, president of the Prince County Fishermen’s Association, told that fishermen feel this moratorium should be lifted, allowing new enterprises to enter the processing sector and provide improved shore prices through increased competition.
