| For the second consecutive year, the Coast of Bays Corporation has
partnered with the local of the FFAW in Harbour Breton to have monitors collect data about
the lobster stocks in Fortune Bay.
Curtis Pierce and Steve d'Entremont went
along with the lobster fishers to collect data as the traps were checked. The data
collected looked at a number of parameters including the number of traps checked, the
number of berried (egg carrying) legal sized females, the number of legal sized berried
females that were v-notched (a system used to mark previously caught females that were
returned to the ocean), the number of undersized berried females, the number of undersized
berried females that were v-notched, the number of lobsters caught that were previously
notched and the number of undersized males caught.
This data is then entered into a spreadsheet for
analysis and when compared with data collected last year will give an indication of any
developing trends. The information gathered will then be used by the fishers and DFO
when developing a new lobster management plan for the area. This is one way that
local people can have a say in the sustainability of a resource that will ensure their
long-term livelihood.
Following the lead of this partnership between the
FFAW and the Coast of Bays Corporation, similar programs have been adopted in other areas
of the province.
The monitors report that this year was a successful
year for most fishers and despite more lobster fishers in the zone this year, catches were
better than in previous years. |
