Lobster fishing season begins in northern Nova Scotia

Fishermen in northern Nova Scotia between the Pugwash and Cheticamp areas left shore at 6 a.m. Saturday to set their traps as the lobster season officially kicked off.

"Everybody was in good cheer. It's a nice day and a lot of people were happy to get back to work and back earning some income," said Jordan MacDougall, president of the Inverness South Fishermen's Association.

MacDougall has been a fisherman for 30 years. He says there were 22 fishing boats out at his harbour in Inverness this morning.

Ice-free start

"I'm finished now. We have our traps set in the water. They're soaking now," he said, adding that he plans to pull his traps from the water on Monday.

MacDougall says conditions Saturday were much better this year compared to last year, when there was still a lot of ice in the harbour.

"Last year, we were delayed by ice and we didn't get out until May 12 in our zone and this year we've been ice free so we got out ... so that's the biggest difference," said MacDougall.

'Electricity' in the air

Lynda Campbell, a local photographer in Mabou, N.S., takes pictures of the first day of the lobster season every year.

"There's such an electricity. There's an excitement and it starts in April and you can see the traps going by and people are talking about it and everybody who is in that industry is straight up busy," she said.

Campbell captured more than 500 images today and uploaded some of the pictures to her Facebook photography page and on Instagram.

"That's the kind of stuff I really love to do and it's something people really appreciate too," she said.