Ghost Fishing by Derelict Lobster Traps in LFA 36

A sonar survey, purpose-built grapnels and local fishers recovered 540 lost traps, freed hundreds of lobster and crab, and delivered a compensation ratio 4.5 times what was required.

Bay of Fundy lobster fishers feared that construction of the Canaport LNG terminal would increase gear loss from heavier vessel traffic. Lost traps can “ghost fish”, continuing to catch and kill lobster and other species for years. Meanwhile, anchoring the terminal’s pier bases disturbed 2,445 square metres of seafloor, which required compensation under the Fisheries Act.

An unusual offset

Working with local fishers, the Fundy North Fishermen’s Association and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Canaport LNG launched a Derelict Lobster Trap Retrieval Project and contracted Fundy Engineering to run it. We surveyed 49.25 square kilometres of seafloor with side-scan sonar, identifying 2,971 potential derelict traps at an average density of 60 per square kilometre, and designed grapnels that local fishers used to retrieve gear.

What came up

Over 40 days on the water in 2008 and 2009, 540 derelict traps were recovered, ranging from one to 23 years old. Of those, 198 still contained animals, suggesting a ghost-fishing incidence of 37%; they yielded 579 lobster weighing a combined 610 kilograms. Using a conservative fishing area of 78.5 square metres per trap, the recovery gave Canaport LNG a compensation ratio 4.5 times what was necessary. DFO approved the compensation in December 2009, and the work was the feature article in APEGNB’s Enginuity magazine.