Renny Hickey and Dion Bennett, two fish harvesters out of Little Port Harmon in Stephenville, are wishing for strong easterly winds.
That’s because St. George’s Bay is blocked up with the most ice that Hickey says he’s seen there in about 25 years, especially this late.
Hickey said he learned Wednesday the crab season is opening this coming Monday and he’s waiting to go but can’t because of the ice in the bay. If the wind from the right direction doesn’t come up before that time, there’s no getting out.
Then there’s the lobster season, tentatively set to open on April 18, and he certainly hopes the ice goes out into the Gulf of St. Lawrence before then.
While there is less ice in the harbour at Little Port Harmon, there’s still enough to prevent putting boats in the water that are currently in drydock, including his Long Cove Pride. He has a long-liner in the water, which is iced in.
He said there are places in the bay where ice is rafted up about 20-feet high just offshore but believes once the major portion of the ice goes out the bay, the right type of weather will break up that piled up ice.
Hickey is hoping to catch his quota of crab before going at the lobster and said it shouldn’t take long because the crab quota in St. George’s Bay has been cut by another 25 per cent this year.
Last year he filled his quota in a day.
Bennett is especially hoping the ice will be gone before the lobster season starts, as he said fish harvesters in this province get the best prices for lobster in the first two weeks of the season.
That’s prior to the opening of the lobster season in Nova Scotia.
