Nova Scotia lobster buyers must take handling course for licence

Nova Scotia lobster buyers will have to take a lobster handling course this spring to have their licences renewed, the provincial fisheries minister said Thursday.

Proper handling of lobsters should mean fewer crustaceans lost, said Fisheries Minister Keith Colwell. He said buyers were not consulted before introducing the new mandatory licence requirement. 

"If we would have waited … every day we lose not having proper handling practices in place on lobsters means we're losing revenue for the province of Nova Scotia and for rural communities in Nova Scotia," Colwell said.

"If that lobster doesn't make it to market for whatever reason, then that's revenue that we've lost."

'Futile' unless fishermen included

Many lobster industry workers learned good handling as kids, said Paul Logan, owner of lobster buying and processing company North Nova Seafoods in Pictou. 

"We've always been careful anyway," he said. "We're always trained not to drop a lobster...They're living animals."

The fisheries registrar notified buyers mid-February that their 2017 licence renewals will be tied to completing a formal lobster handling course. A copy of the letter was provided to CBC News by the Nova Scotia Progressive Conservative Party.

• Read the letter about lobster buying licence renewals.

Logan said he has taken his employees to a workshop about safe handling, so he supports the education. But he said the provincial government isn't looking in the right place.

"It starts when the fishermen hauls the trap up...It's no use starting halfway after the lobster's already damaged," Logan said.

"It's futile unless they make it mandatory for the fishermen."

• Nova Scotia young lobster population shows no sign of decline, says DFO

'You cannot cook a dead lobster'

Jerry Amirault, president of the Lobster Processors Association of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, said he welcomes the course, whether or not it's mandatory. 

"I hear anecdotally at certain times of certain years, there's been significant number of lobsters dying," he said.

"If a lobster dies, the lobster cannot be processed. You cannot cook a dead lobster. You have to throw it out for health reasons."

All stages of the lobster industry stress the animal, so special care must be taken, he said. Even industry veterans who've been working with lobster for years might need a refresher on best practices, he said.

"It's like handling eggs, so you have to very gentle with it," Amirault said. 

"If there's too many put in the crate, if they're pushed into the crate, if their noses are broken, all of those things contribute to the lobster dying. It isn't like you shoot them in the head and they're dead."

Lobsters, despite their seemingly fierce exterior, can be hurt during handling, he said. 

'Science-based fishery'

As an example. Amirault said those too small for harvesting should be dropped back in the water, not thrown.

Also, most lose their shells once a year in a process called moulting. Lobster are extra sensitive during the eight to 10-week recovery period, he said.

Lobster are fished before and after the moulting stage in Nova Scotia, depending on the region. 

"We'd like to have a science-based fishery and the more knowledge that can be shared with people," Amirault said.

He said similar courses have been offered in the past and were "always well received."

Colwell spoke last year about instating a levy to market lobster, which was met with resistance in some parts of the province.

P.E.I.'s 2-cent-a-pound lobster levy, the first in the Maritimes, begins this spring.