Saving Seafood

Catch limits for scallops on Georges Bank reduced due to increase in predator population

October 28, 2025 — One of Nova Scotia’s most lucrative seafood species is being attacked by natural predators on one of the most famous fishing grounds.

What remains to be seen is whether it’s a short-term occurrence or a sign of things to come.

A recently published stock assessment by Fisheries and Oceans Canada for sea scallops in Scallop Fishing Area (SFA) 27A on Georges Bank notes major changes in the amount of biomass and natural mortality rates. The changes were dramatic enough that DFO reduced the total allowable catch last December.

Fully recruited biomass decreased to 13,570 tonnes in 2024 from 31,095 tonnes in 2023 after fluctuating “within the healthy zone since the 2000s,” the science advisory report said. Fully recruited refers to commercial-size scallops.

Recruit biomass — the total mass of new scallops in the population — dropped by 72 per cent from 2023 to 2024.

The report said the “significant interannual changes” in stock condition for the SFA are likely driven by environmental variability.

“Research vessel survey data from Canada and the United States suggest that predator abundance, notably sea stars and crabs, has increased within the areas of known scallop distribution. Aggregations of predators in areas of high scallop density contribute to increases in natural mortality.”

Read the full article at CBC News

Fishers want ‘incredibly important’ Georges Bank protected against offshore wind development

September 17, 2024 — As Nova Scotia rushes to establish an offshore wind industry, some fishers are calling for explicit protection for the rich fishing ground on Georges Bank.

The cabinet minister in charge of developing renewable energy projects says he will keep turbines off the bank, but not by changing a piece of legislation that is now moving through Province House.

Ian McIsaac, president of the Seafood Producers Association of Nova Scotia, brought his concerns to a legislature committee Monday as it reviews a new bill that, if passed into law, would enable offshore wind development.

McIsaac said Bill 471 doesn’t update the Georges Bank moratorium that’s been in place against offshore petroleum development since the 1980s.

“We feel this is a technical error,” he said.

“In the past, whenever the moratorium has come up for consideration, it has been subject to intense study of the environmental and socio-economic impacts of change, to determine if, in fact, such changes are appropriate.”

Read the full article at CBC News

MAINE: Maritime Shorts: Ghost gear, Marine Patrol, road map plans

August 18, 2021 — A study in southwest Nova Scotia estimated that abandoned, lost and discarded fishing gear, also known as ghost gear, account for more than $175,000 Canadian dollars in commercial losses annually.  

A team of researchers conducted 60 trips to retrieve the gear in one of Canada’s most productive lobster fishing regions and removed 7,064 kilograms of ghost gear – two-thirds of which were lobster traps. Those traps continued to capture species and the scientists found 239 lobsters and seven groundfish in the study. Buoys, rope and dragger cable were also retrieved and were either disposed of or repurposed. 

Most of the traps were believed to be less than 4 years old, though the oldest found was from 1987. Based on their markings, some of the debris likely originated from the U.S., likely traveling northward from the southern Gulf of Maine, according to the study. Tires, party balloons and a fan belt were also recovered.  

“While fishers often attempt to retrieve gear when it becomes lost during the fishing season, regular retrieval is challenging due to regulatory requirements, relocation issues, and lack of resources,” the study published in Marine Pollution Bulletin last month read. “Thus, allowing (abandoned, lost and discarded fishing gear) to persist, potentially continues to indiscriminately catch commercially valuable lobsters and other species and contributes to the growing problem of marine debris.” 

Read the full story at the Mount Desert Islander

How ‘ghost’ fishing gear affects at-risk species and fisheries’ bottom line

August 5, 2021 — Southwest Nova Scotia is one of Canada’s most productive lobster fishing region, spanning more than 21,000 square kilometers and contributing a significant portion of the country’s lobster supply.

With a busy fishery, though, has come the growing challenge of abandoned, lost and discarded fishing  (ALDFG)—a collection of , ropes, hooks, cables and other fishing-related equipment that drift through the water column or litter the ocean floor. It is a global problem, but one that hasn’t been widely quantified.

Researchers at Dalhousie University wanted to find out how much gear might be in the Southwest Nova Scotia (SWNS) fishing zone and how it might be affecting the existing fishery. Their recently published  provides the first preliminary assessment of environmental and economic impacts of ALDFG on the commercial  industry in the area.

Read the full story at PHYS.org

MAINE: This father and son traveled through rough seas to keep a family fishing tradition alive

June 14, 2021 — Like a lot of things on the old boat, the starter was beat up and broken.

To get underway, Nick Nieuwkerk connected the electrical terminals with the metal end of a screwdriver. Then, with a zap and spark, the ancient Detroit Diesel engine roared to life.

But then the throttle wouldn’t stay put, so Nick’s father, Knoep Nieuwkerk, rigged it open with a spoon and piece of string. Eventually, the pair were steaming out of Woods Harbor, Nova Scotia, on their way to Portland on April 7, aboard a 44-foot fishing boat that had seen better days since it first hit the water, 42 years earlier.

There was no guarantee they’d make it, but they had to try.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

High Liner struggles in Q1 as pandemic seafood-buying surge wanes

May 18, 2021 — Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada-based High Liner Foods reported weaker sales and profits in the first quarter of 2021, while acknowledging “global supply challenges.”

The value-added seafood company recorded USD 243.4 million (EUR 199 million) in sales in Q1 2021, down USD 25.2 million (EUR 20.6 million) from Q1 2020. By volume, the company’s sales decreased by 7.5 million pounds to 69.8 million pounds. Its gross profit shrunk by USD 1.1 million (EUR 900,000) to USD 57.7 million (EUR 47.2 million) and its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) declined by USD 2.9 million (EUR 2.4 million) to USD 27.8 million (EUR 22.7 million).

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Search continues for 5 fishermen in Bay of Fundy after 1 found dead

December 16, 2020 — Searchers found the body of a crew member from a scallop vessel that went missing in the Bay of Fundy off the coast of southwestern Nova Scotia Tuesday, as teams combed the air and shores for five other missing men.

The Maritime Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre (JRCC) announced the news in a tweet late Tuesday.

“Our thoughts and sincere condolences go out to the family,” the JRCC tweet said. It’s unclear when the body was found or where. Next of kin have been notified.

The emergency beacon was activated for the missing vessel, Chief William Saulis, Tuesday morning. The JRCC said the emergency signal came in at 5:51 a.m. AT near Delaps Cove, N.S.

A Cormorant helicopter and a Hercules aircraft from CFB Greenwood and three coast guard ships were dispatched to help with the search, which is being hampered by bad weather.

A CP-140 Aurora Maritime Patrol Aircraft from Greenwood also joined the search Tuesday evening.

Read the full story at CBC

Indigenous people in Nova Scotia exercised their right to catch lobster. Now they’re under attack.

October 27, 2020 — When Mike Sack handed out lobster licenses to Indigenous fishers in Nova Scotia last month, he expected some pushback from commercial fishers. But the Sipekne’katik First Nation chief did not foresee the violence to come.

Mi’kmaq fishers say non-Indigenous commercial fishers in the Maritime province have threatened them, cut their lines, pulled their traps from the water and formed flotillas to intimidate them on the waters of St. Mary’s Bay.

Read the full story at The Washington Post

Lobstermen don’t need all the traps they use, research claims

May 29, 2020 — New research suggests that the U.S. lobster industry could place fewer traps in the water and still gain just as much profit. And that finding could play a role in the debate over what should be required of Maine lobstermen to reduce entanglements with endangered North Atlantic right whales.

The study was published this week in the peer-reviewed Marine Policy Journal. Lead researcher Hannah Myers, a graduate student at the University of Alaska’s College of Fisheries and Ocean Studies, examined landings and other data from lobster-fishing territory that crosses the international Hague Line between Nova Scotia and Maine.

Myers’ research might help to end an impasse between animal-rights activists who are looking to reduce entanglements injurious, if not fatal, to the whales and have said that Maine fishing lines are at least a statistically-significant threat to the creatures. Maine lobstermen criticize activists and researchers as advancing poorly-researched and economically damaging arguments to their way of life. A plan recently advanced by Maine fishermen was criticized by researchers as not going far enough, while Maine’s federal and state government leaders have called on the federal government to back down on encroaching upon Maine lobstermen.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News