Fishermen have vent their anger over the result of the probe which shows a pesticide normally used for agriculture ended up in the Bay of Fundy and may have contributed to the death of hundreds of lobsters. Dead lobsters first appeared last November in Grand Manan’s Seal Cove, and five days later a fisherman 50 kilometres away in Pocologan found more dead lobsters in his traps.
It is reported that after the discovery, another 816 kilograms of weak or dead lobster were discovered in Deer Island’s Fairhaven Harbour. Fishermen Reid Brown said that he has been around lobsters all my life. And he never saw lobsters in that state. Environment Canada has launched two investigations into the lobster kills on Grand Manan and Deer Island.
The investigation shows that the lobsters were exposed to Cypermethrin, a pesticide that’s illegal to use in marine environments and toxic to lobsters. Environment Canada found no evidence about how the pesticide got into the Bay of Fundy. There are few if any farms near the Fundy coast that could be a source for the Cypermethrin found in the bay.
Harvey Millar, a spokesman with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, said human health was never at risk, but any lobster kill is a concern. Millar also said that Environment Canada can’t say how long its investigation will take, but Bay of Fundy fishermen want answers soon before they haul up traps and find more damage.
