“It just wasn’t the same this year,” Sonnenberg says. “There wasn’t the enthusiasm that there’s been in past seasons. Usually, they’re really pumped; this year it was pretty subdued.”
On that same day, the Bangor Daily News published a photo of a Peaks Island lobsterman stacking his traps even though his season isn’t over yet. The photo caption noted that, since Sep-tember 11, the dealer price had dropped from $4 to $2. (See related story)
“It’s hanging over our heads, too,” Sonnenberg says, noting that she’d gotten up at 5 a.m. to make breakfast for her son who’s on one of the boats. “We’re hearing reports that there may be dealers who won’t even take our catches because they don’t know what they’ll be able to do with them.”
The problem, she adds, is not prices in New Brunswick or the Maritimes. The problem is the prices in Maine and the balance of New England. “For a while now, lobster fishermen here have been on tenterhooks about the prices in New England. Everybody feels there’s not a lot to look forward to here.”
In a related development, Sonnen-berg noted that island lobstermen are happy to see the end of the four-year lobster management plan that they’ve been wrestling over with the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
“Basically, we’ve been trying to balance the realities of the Bay of Fundy with keeping Ottawa happy, but the bottom line is that we’ve wanted a plan that’s relevant and worthwhile and not something simply intended to make the bureaucrats happy” Sonnenberg says. “The problem is that the four-year plan was based on an FRCC [Fisheries Resource Conservation Council] report that dealt with the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It was a case of Ôone shoe fits all,’ and, of course it doesn’t. This has been largely an exercise in frustration and, sometimes, futility.”
She adds, “We were told to double egg production. Double what? How can you double something when you don’t know what’s out there?”
Indeed, the FRCC report at the time noted, “In line with the input received during consultations, the Council concluded that rather than trying to prescribe specific measures for each Lobster Fishing Area (LFA), it would be more appropriate and effective to design a mechanism and the tools whereby stakeholders can participate in and take responsibility for the decisions required to ensure a sustainable fishery.”
The four-year plan will end in January 2002.
To follow that, Sonnenberg says, the DFO is proposing a three-year conservation plan, calling for cooperation with the industry. “If it’s a true partnership, and the plan is genuine as it relates to us, then we’ll work with it.”
On a cautiously positive note, Sonnenberg says that the GMFA lobster and weir sectors had a “fairly good” meeting with Rodney Weston, the new provincial Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Aquaculture.
“He let us have our say about what our concerns are,” she says. “He seemed very thoughtful and reserved comment. He also admitted that he’s learning and that the process is likely to take time.”
Sonnenberg adds, “He didn’t make any promises; he just listened and that in itself is pretty remarkable. He promised he’d be back, and we’re going to hold him to that.”
For his part, Weston says he’ll keep his promise, although he can’t put a timeline on a return visit. He describes the meeting as “very frank. They clearly let you know where they stand, and that’s good.”
He adds, “If there’s any message I want to deliver right now it’s that I want to know what people are thinking, and the only way to do that is to go where they live and work, on the fishermen’s turf if you will, rather than holding meetings in some boardroom. I want to hear how people perceive the issues, but I also want to hear some solutions, too. I may not always agree with them, but I want to hear them.”
Weston concluded, “I look forward to working together with them. It’s a lot better than being at loggerheads with them.”