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Who we are & what we do
Meet Your 2018 Lobster Technicians!
Bhreagh Krszwda – “Hi there, I’m Bhreagh and this is my second year as a lobster technician with the Cape Breton Fisher Harvesters Association. I reside in Albert Bridge when I’m not in school working on my undergrad degree in Environment Management at UNB Fredericton. Working for CBFHA has peaked my interest in helping to create and…
Read MoreStriped Bass
The Cape Breton Fish Harvesters Association is concerned about the recent increase in Striped Bass in the waters around Cape Breton. Alarm bells are being sounded by smelt harvesters, lobster harvesters, and recreational fishers. They are voracious eaters preying on our important economic and endangered species
Read MoreUpdate – St. Anns Bank MPA
St. Anns Bank Marine Protected Area (MPA) was designated on June 2, 2017. As a result, fisheries restrictions are now in effect. All recreational and commercial fisheries (with the exception of commercial seal harvest) are prohibited in Zone 1. Certain fisheries are allowed in Zones 2, 3 and/or 4. Please refer to the St. Anns…
Read MoreSt Anns Bank- Marine Protected Area
The Cape Breton Fish Harvesters Association (previously the LFA27 Management Board) represents inshore owner-operator fish harvesters in Eastern Cape Breton many of whom are fishing or have historically fished in the area covered by the St. Anns Bank proposed Marine Protected Area. Association members are heavily affected by the proposed MPA, which covers over 15…
Read MoreModeling the Drift of Lobster Larvae
Guest post by Brady K. Quinn, University of New Brunswick, Saint John, NB After lobster eggs hatch, baby lobsters, called larvae, are released into the ocean. These larvae spend the first 3-8 weeks or more of their life in waters near the surface and then eventually settle back to the seabed at the end of the larval phase. While…
Read MoreAtlantic Halibut
Atlantic halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus) have both their eyes on the right side of their bodies and swim with the right side facing the surface. They are distinguished from other flat fish in the area by the concave tail and highly arched lateral line above the pectoral fin. The largest of the flatfish in Atlantic Canada,…
Read MoreCape Breton Exhibition 2015
From August 17 to 21, the LFA27 Management Board crew (aka Cape Breton Lobster) manned a booth at the Cape Breton Exhibition in North Sydney. The goal of the exhibit was to promote our local seafood industry (small, coastal owner-operators). Fishermen and lobster technicians were on hand to chat with visitors and answer questions. Our…
Read MoreSnow Crab in Eastern Cape Breton
Snow crab harvesters in Eastern Cape Breton operate in 3 different areas. Areas, season and management of the fishery is described.
Read MoreLobster Genetics
Guest post by Laura Benestan, graduate student with the NSERC Canadian Fisheries Research Network Imagine being responsible for managing a moose population, which includes a hunt. To do it sustainably you would need to know how many moose there are in your herd (population) and how many could be taken every year without diminishing the…
Read MoreVideotaping lobster
Video of lobster escaping helps the lobster harvesters understand how short lobster escape from hatches.
Read MoreLobster eggs, hatching time and larval drift
We sample eggs and measure water temperature to predict hatching time for lobster.
Read MoreWhy are some clutches abnormal?
At sea sampling indicates that some berried females carry abnormal clutches which means decreased egg production. Feng Tang is trying to find out why.
Read MoreMonitoring Lobster Quality
Weekly sampling of various ports indicate that the lobster landed in Eastern Cape Breton is of high quality.
Read MoreAt sea sampling
How sustainable is our fishery? There are many ways to assess sustainability of a fishery: some very sophisticated methodologies using complex data programs and fancy equipment and some much simpler but easier to understand methods. Small scale coastal fish harvesters who are “in touch” with their environment assess sustainability by their daily catch, and by the abundance of…
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