Fishermen vote

By Charlotte MacAulay

Lobster fishermen in area 26A are voting today on whether or not to support a sustainability plan to be presented to DFO.
The vote is being held on the second floor of the Wellness Centre from 9 a.m. -3p. m. Georgetown fisherman Cameron King supports the plan .
“It means fishermen would have some say in what’s going to happen down the road,” Mr King said.
There are 408 fishermen in area 26A. Fisheries consultant Jim Jenkins said they would like to have a big a turn out as possible, but there is no quorum and the majority wins.
There has been a steady flow the first hour with 50 votes cast so far.
Some of the concerns voiced by voting fishermen were concerning how many traps they will lose and carapace size increase.
The plan proposes a 36 trap reduction where they are asking DFO to buy back the traps so there will be no financial loss to the fishermen, and a carapace size increase to 72mm that will allow lobsters to spawn one more time before they are removed from the water.
One fisherman didn’t want to say which way he was voting, but did say if the lobsters are there the amount of traps used to catch them isn’t going to make any difference at the end of the season and if we have to leave some behind because of the change in size then there’s more to multiply for the next season.

update
By Charlotte MacAulay
The votes have been counted and the fishermen in area 26A have voted 176- 60 in favour of the proposed sustainability plan said chairman Bobby Jenkins.
Over half of the 408 area fishermen voted and 74 per cent said yes .The plan proposes a buy back of 36 traps per lease , a carapace size increase to 72mm and a electronic reporting system will be sent to DFO in Moncton early next week and then it’s up to the government to accept or not said Mr Jenkins.