P.E.I. snow crab fishers thankful for big catches as price plummets
CBC
Snow crab fishers on P.E.I. say the price they're getting for their catch is lower than it's been in years.
Crab fishers were getting $8 a pound at the wharf last year. This year, the price has plummeted to $2.25.
Fishers in some other parts of the Atlantic region are staying off the water because of the low price.
Meanwhile, Island snow crab fishers have wrapped up their season.
Carter Hutt, who heads the P.E.I. Snow Crab Association, said the catch was so good this year, he made his full quota in just a couple weeks.
The Northport fisherman said that with the price so low and expenses so high, it was the one thing that saved him from losing money.
"If you make a trip for 5,000 pounds or come in with 20,000, it basically costs you the same amount for that trip," he said.
"If you can make it in a lot less trips, it helps your bottom line that way. So that was the good thing this year, with very high catch rates."
Hutt said the industry just didn't rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic as buyers and processors had expected last year.
"A lot of buyers bought a lot of product. And it ended up [not selling]. It stayed in storage, and stopped selling," he said.
While some crab fishers in the region decided to hold off hitting the water with the hopes prices would improve, Hutt said the Island's 30 or so fishers couldn't afford to wait.
He said the later into the season they go, the more the risk of endangered right whales showing up in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and getting tangled in their gear.
"That was one of the main things: to get out on the water early before the whales show up, and get our quota caught," Hutt said.
"If not, we're into closed grids and closed zones. So, I don't think it was even questionable that we'd stay tied up."
London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) is getting rid of unlimited mental health benefits for staff, blaming ballooning costs and former administrators for implementing it without proper due diligence or oversight.
Netflix has agreed to buy Warner Bros. Discovery's TV and film studios and streaming division for $72 billion US, a deal that would hand control of one of Hollywood's most prized and oldest assets to the streaming pioneer that has upended the media industry.
CBC Calgary kicks off its annual Make the Season Kind campaign this morning at Fratello Coffee Roasters.
CBC Newfoundland and Labrador is kicking off its annual holiday campaign, helping to raise money to support local food banks.
If all goes according to plan, at 6 a.m. AT on Saturday people working at the IWK Health Centre will become the test case for a generational change to Nova Scotia’s health-care system.
One month after Prime Minister Mark Carney announced what he called "generational" military spending, New Brunswick’s defence ecosystem is on high alert.
Miranda Mirlycourtois, 34, looks directly at the camera and makes a confession.
Saskatoon city hall says police spending is projected to be $2.6 million over budget this year. That pushes the city into a $1.2-million deficit position, according to a report that will be considered by city council next week.
Students at the University of Regina are days away from deciding whether a newly formed student association should become their official representative body.
All public schools on P.E.I. are closed Friday and thousands of Maritime Electric customers are without power as strong winds create hazardous travel conditions across the province.
Prince Rupert, B.C., residents are celebrating the holidays this year with coastal flair.
In the four years Chelsey Simmonds has worked at the Eva Rothwell Centre, she has seen the need increase every year at the centre’s community food pantry.
CBC is once again looking to make the holiday season kind in Windsor-Essex.