Fishermen gather by the hundreds and vote to go fishing

By Tina Comeau

THE VANGUARD

NovaNewsNow.com

While lobster fishermen in southwestern Nova Scotia say they can’t afford to go fishing for $3 a pound, more importantly they say they can’t afford not to go fishing.

At a meeting at the Yarmouth Wesleyan Church on Tuesday afternoon, several hundred fishermen jammed into the church and voted to end a protest against low lobster prices. They will begin fishing again on Wednesday and – appropriately, considering the surroundings they were meeting in – pray for the best.

Fishermen have crews to employ, families to support and bills to pay and those who lined up at the microphones said they can’t do any of that if their boats stay tied to the wharf.

While it became evident early on in the meeting that the fishermen would indeed begin fishing again on Wednesday – protest or no protest – a vote held at the conclusion of the meeting made it official. Of the 573 licence holders that cast a vote, 548 voted to go fishing and only 25 voted to continue the protest.

On Monday morning fishermen heading out to the fishing grounds turned around, came back to the wharfs and tied up their boats after deciding, with the expenses that they have, that they just can’t make a go of it at $3 or $3.25 a pound for their catch. And it really frustrates and angers them to be paid $3 for a pound for lobster that they see being sold in a grocery store for $7 a pound of more.

So fishermen said they were going on strike. Their hope was that by stopping lobster landings it would increase the shore price paid to fishermen.

But the fact is, the lobster industry is stacked up against a global economic crisis beyond anyone’s control and the outlook isn’t good. For the time being there is a market up until Christmas. After Christmas, fishermen were told, things look pretty bleak.

Many fishermen were of the opinion that with the season underway, the time to fish is now.

Next season, they said, they’ll work towards getting organized earlier in the hopes of securing a better price.

Shelburne MLA Sterling Belliveau suggested at the meeting that there needs to be an all-party working committee, with fishermen and buyers involved, to work for the benefit of the industry. “This is a serious issue,” he said about the challenges facing the industry, noting many fishermen are facing a high debt load. Aside from the 1,700 licence holders, they also directly employ about 4,000 deck hands in lobster fishing areas 33 and 34. “We have to ensure that those deck hands are going to be there next year,” he said.

His suggestion of a forming a working committee was greeted positively.

It was pointed out repeatedly during the meeting that the lobster industry is the economic engine driving the economy of southwestern Nova Scotia. So not only do fishermen, their crews and families rely on the industry said Ashton Spinney, co-chair of the lobster fishing area 34 management board, but so too do the communities they live in. Stores, restaurants, gas stations, and many other businesses rely on fishing families to spend money in their premises. “The whole economy of southwestern Nova Scotia is either going to suffer or prosper based on what we decide today,” added Bobby Newell, a fisherman who fishes out of the port of Pinkney’s Point.

Spinney characterized the past two days of non fishing as a very spontaneous protest and he said while it may not have achieved the goal of seeing prices increase, it did get people to sit up and take notice.

And with fishermen not having fished Monday or Tuesday in protest, on top of sitting out Sunday (the no Sunday fishing is a measure being carried out throughout the season) it also slow down the flow of lobsters coming ashore.

To the hundreds of fishermen at the meeting, the following two questions were posed:

Are you going to continue this protest?

Or, are you going to go home and go fishing?

Meteghan fisherman Roger LeBlanc said for him the choice was easy. We go fishing. He said by tying up the boats it was painting the industry as unstable and the region risked losing access to markets because of it. He also said with many fishermen carrying a heavy debt load, they need to be on the water making money, even if fishermen feel it isn’t enough.

LeBlanc said at least that way if the banks start calling in loan payments a fisherman can say to the bank, ‘I’m trying.’ “If we shut this down and go to the bank, they won’t even talk to me,” he said.

LeBlanc also suggested any talk of a split season should be shelved. A split season would see fishermen haul up their traps for two months over the winter, which is a time when little fishing actually takes place anyway because of the weather. “It’s a six-month season. If someone doesn’t like fishing, stay at the wharf,” he said.

Many fishermen lined up at the microphone one after another and said they were going fishing Wednesday. “I am planning on going fishing tomorrow because I have crewmembers that need a job,” said one. “There’s a market for Christmas you cannot miss,” said another.

And for fishermen who fish closer to shore, they said postponing the season only risked to drive their catch out further from shore as lobsters crawl to deeper water when the water temperature gets colder. “We’ve got two weeks and then we’re done,” said a fisherman from the floor.

While many comments drew applause from the floor, a couple in particular were very well received, including a suggestion by one fisherman that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans should reconsider the $1,890 fee fishermen are required to pay each year for their licence. Fishermen say they don’t see that money being invested back into the industry and in hard times DFO should give fishermen a break and decrease the fee.

Another comment questioned if the industry shouldn’t be turning its attention to the middle man. “Do we have a little too much interference between the boat and the consumer,” asked a woman from Long Island.

Overall in the end, the fishermen said they need to fish. “I think a lot of us that have boats won’t get much, but at least we’ll look after our crews,” said Maurice Shand.

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