Lobster boats stranded outside harbour on P.E.I.'s North Shore: 'It's not a good scenario'

More than a dozen lobster fishing boats were stuck offshore Tuesday afternoon and unable to get back into the harbour at North Rustico on P.E.I.'s North Shore.

Extremely low tides and strong winds combined with extra sand in the channel meant about half the boats that went out this morning couldn't get back to the wharf.

Blake Buote was able to get safely in, but told CBC News it wasn't easy. He had to floor the engine just to power his boat through the sand.

"We've been pretty fortunate here over the years getting in and out, but it's getting worse with no ice every year," said Buote, who's been fishing out of North Rustico for nearly 25 years. 

"Ice helps… clean up the channels and whatnot, and for some reason dredging doesn't start till the middle of April and now there's numerous harbours that need a lot of attention." 

More P.E.I. harbours have needed dredging in recent years, in part because there's less sea ice to keep the shifting sand in check.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada, or DFO, is responsible for maintaining P.E.I.'s network of fishing harbours. It routinely dredges to deepen the channels, which helps prevent boats from running aground when entering the harbour.

CBC News has reached out to DFO about the situation in North Rustico, but has not received an official response.  

'It needs to be dredged'

Other crews who made it safely back to port Tuesday said the low tides and lack of dredging make the situation "really dangerous" for fishermen, especially given the force of the tide can swing boats around and cause expensive damage. 

"If we were 10 minutes later, we wouldn't be getting it in, we'd be sitting out there with them," said Brenden Carr, whose crew made it back to wharf just after 1 p.m. AT. 

"It needs to be dredged because this is a livelihood out there that a lot of people depend on, and if we can't get in or we can't get out, then we can't fish." 

Reid Peters estimates he managed to get his boat through the channel 10-15 minutes before it was too late. 

"We were dragging pretty much the whole way," he said. "Don't know if it did too much damage to the boat, but it definitely didn't help anything." 

Some of the fishermen figured it would be well into the early evening, when the tide rises again, before the rest of the crews could get back into the harbour. 

Buote said some who weren't stuck were able to turn around after seeing other boats struggling, and went to another wharf where they could get in safely. 

The only solution for the rest of the week, he said, will be to shorten their trips out to sea. 

"We're going to have to go out when the tide's at its highest, and when the tide starts going out, probably come in," Buote said. 

"If not, boats are going to be getting damaged, people are going to be getting hurt. I don't even want to mention it, but people could get killed over this. It's not a good scenario."