The eight-week lobster fishery is the main occupation for the people along much of the northwest coast. The season opened with great start as the fishermen began pointing their speedboats for open water each morning before dawn. Daniel’s Harbour fisherman Shawn Perry, told that there is good sign of lobster in the water. He added that the opening season seems for the past three years catches have been getting a bit better.
At the end of last season the prices of lobster came down to $4.50 a pound, from the high of $6. But this year the soaring fuel prices and good catch rates can manipulate the prices and the lives of the communities. Besides, fishermen were happy to be back on the water and as soon as lobster season ends the foshermen will fish cod for nearly a month, then ends the season with a few days catching halibut.
The Fishery Resource Conservation Council’s (FRCC) 2007 report on Atlantic lobster singled out Lobster Fishing Area (LFA) 14, Newfoundland’s west coast, for adopting responsible conservation measures. Following the report the fishermen dropped from 350 traps to 300. Besides, other management initiatives included lobster sanctuary areas, voluntary v-notching and raising the minimum carapace size from 81 mm to 82.5 mm.
The main aim of these measures has been to increase the number of spawn-bearing females reproducing in LFA 14. It is said that usually after good start of the season lobster landings always start to decline off. The FRCC report states that many lobster fishermen have benefited from decreased demands on the resource.
