Lobsters Wash Ashore

Storm-tossed lobsters not free for the taking, says DFO
Article online since January 19th 2010, 10:24

Storm-tossed lobsters not free for the taking, says DFO
By Eric McCarthy

FOR THE SOU’WESTER

Transcontinental Media/Journal Pioneer

There’s only one way to catch lobsters in Atlantic Canada, and that’s “from a lobster trap on a fishing vessel, and in open season,” according to Bobby McInnis, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans’ area chief of Conservation and Protection.

McInnis said earlier this month fisheries officers on patrol in the Kildare to Tignish, P.E.I. came upon an estimated 200 to 300 pounds of lobster which had washed ashore. Most of what the officers saw were dead and decomposing.

Several people seen gathering lobster were ordered to discard them, McInnis said.

McInnis wants to inform the public it is illegal to gather lobsters off the beaches, whether they are dead or alive.

“If they are dead, it becomes a health concern,” he said, adding, “I don’t eat a dead or decomposing lobster.”

McInnis said the lobsters likely washed ashore in the pounding surf. It’s not unusual for lobster to wash ashore there after heavy seas, he said, noting they usually wash ashore with kelp and seaweed.
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