Lobster boats leave Port Medway Harbour early Tuesday morning on Dumping Day. (Rick Conrad)
More than 1,400 fishing boats left wharves early this morning along the South Shore as lobster season got underway in southwestern Nova Scotia.
Known as Dumping Day, it’s the day that fishermen set their traps in some of North America’s most lucrative lobster grounds. Nova Scotia exported more than $1.3 billion of lobster last year.
Dumping Day was delayed by a day this year because of weather.
Catches were down overall last year, but still accounted for about $318 million.
Some 680 vessels from Queens County motored out at 7 a.m.
Dozens of family and community members were at the wharf in Port Medway to wish fishermen a safe season, which wraps up at the end of May.
Here are some of the people and sounds from the morning.
Fishermen in West Berlin get their traps ready for Dumping Day. (Rick Conrad)
Fishermen around the South Shore are getting ready for the start of lobster season.
Depending on the weather, Dumping Day will start for Queens County fishermen at 7 a.m. Monday, when vessels race to get to some of the most lucrative fishing grounds in North America to set their traps.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans makes the call on Friday morning based on the forecast.
Dumping Day can be moved up or delayed by a day if the forecast predicts anything over 26 knots of wind.
Fishing boat captains can also vote to go a day early or a day later, if they feel conditions are too dangerous.
Bruce Perry fishes out of Port Medway. He was getting his boat ready this week and waiting for the official call to get out on the water. He said he’s looking forward to a good start to the season.
“Just hope there’s a few lobsters everywhere and a good price and some good weather,” he said this week.
The season in lobster fishing areas 33 and 34 goes from the last Monday in November to May 31. LFA 33 includes Queens County and covers the area from Cow Bay to Shelburne. Some 680 vessels fish out of the area.
Dan Fleck, the executive director of Brazil Rock 33/34 Lobster Association, said DFO changed the procedure for the Dumping Day start.
In previous years, boats were allowed to untie and wait in the harbour until the opening bell. This year, though, in an effort to make it fairer for all fishermen, DFO has ordered all vessels to stay tied up at the dock.
“And that could be very dangerous in some harbours,” Fleck said in an interview. “We have some ports with five, 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 80 boats. It could be tricky, in hours of darkness and vessels loaded and you can’t see.
“It’s an anxious time, everybody wants to get to sea, they want to get to their prime fishing grounds. To have everybody try to untie at the same time, jockeying for position and get out of these wharves, it could be dangerous.”
The first day is a long one. LFA 33 crews can set their traps beginning at 7 a.m., but they can’t start hauling them in until midnight.
“So we have some vessels that will stay out until midnight to start hauling, and some vessels will stay for three or four days,” Fleck says.
Overall catches were down last year, according to DFO. In LFA 33, crews landed 6,881 metric tonnes during the 2023-24 season for a value of $163 million. The year before, 7,692 metric tonnes were landed, valued at $154.8 million.
Fleck says it’s difficult to predict what this season will bring. Fishermen in other areas like LFA 35 in the Bay of Fundy are reporting good catches and getting about $11 a pound, he said.
“Safety’s the most important, make sure everybody gets out there safe and sound, and gets back home the same way.”
