Lobster Season Opens - September 1

Contact: John Emmanuel

Thursday, August 31, 2000 - On the heels of the official start of the 2000 Lobster Season on September 1, the Fisheries Department of the Ministry of Agriculture has begun taking steps to further regulate the Pot and Lobster fishery.

Deputy Chief Fisheries Officer Vaughan Charles says following extensive consultations with fishers, the department has issued licenses to pot and lobsters fishers from key fishing communities. The licensing system Mr. Charles says would allow fishers the use of fish pots for the capture of lobsters.

According to Mr. Charles "These fish pots were clearly identified with p.v.c. pipe and the number of their boats engraved on the p.v.c pipe. In addition, we have gear authorization tags which where distributed by the department of fisheries attached to those fish pots.

In the meantime, Mr. Charles says has appealed to restaurateurs and hotel owners to purchase lobsters only from licensed vendors. The lobsters he says must also be of the appropriate size.

"We recognize that there have been problems with lobster theft from fish pots over the years and a lot of persons who are not fishermen, sell lobsters to hotels on the guise that they are fishermen. So we have issued special lobster permits to those fishermen who are involved in that particular management system. Those fishermen are given identification cards and special permits that they would produce to the hotels and restaurants when they go to sell their lobsters," Charles said.

Personnel from the Fisheries Department will be dispatched to the various restaurants and hotels in order to ensure compliance.

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