Setting day for local lobster fishermen has been delayed.
Duane Boudreau, the president of the Gulf Nova Scotia Bonafide Fishermen’s Association, says they’re not allowed to set traps when winds exceed 20 knots.
Boudreau tells The Hawk weather has a big impact when it’s time to set traps every season.
“The weather patterns are pretty volatile this time of the year,” he says. “We got cold water- which has an impact of additional waves and swells- so that, with additional winds (and) the changing temperatures, all seem to multiply and cause some wind issues.”
Boudreau says it’s better to be safe than sorry.
He says they were approved for an early start- April 29 instead of April 30 within their area- but that didn’t happen.
“We, in conjunction with PEI, had put an application in to start a day early so that we could finish on a Saturday opposed to a Sunday,” he says. “Traditionally, fishers in the area don’t fish on a Sunday, so that would have allowed us to finish on a Saturday.”
The local season will open at 6 a.m. Friday.
Fishermen say they will ask DFO officials for a day-to-day extension to the season to make up for the lost days.
