High prices, low catches for P.E.I.'s spring lobster season

Lobster fishermen are busy tidying up their gear after a spring lobster season they say was both successful and challenging.

Catches were down along the north shore of P.E.I. and fishermen blamed the bad weather that hampered them from fishing for much of the eight-week season.

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But a higher price for their catches helps to offset the low catches says fisherman Ian Gauthier.

"The second last week of the season we were getting $7.75 across the board, canners and markets. But I'm not sure what we got for the last week yet. We won't know until we get our pay stubs," Gauthier said.

The fisherman says his catch was down because he spent most of May and June battling cold, stormy weather and the cold weather kept the lobsters from going into the traps.

Gauthier says his total catch was down 25 to 30 per cent.

Weather a factor

"I think the weather had a lot to do with it. We had a low in here for about a month and a half. The low wouldn't move out so the water was cold."

The Department of Agriculture and Fisheries says overall catch numbers are still coming in.

The P.E.I. Fishermen's Association says catches varied from place to place, with some ports reporting their catches were up compared to last year.

They add more marketing efforts have helped raise prices. Some fishermen think the low Canadian dollar is boosting demand from export markets overseas, and the low catch numbers have put upward pressure on prices.

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