Stuck boats, damaged propellers and warm lobster: The cost of excessive moss in Naufrage harbour
CBC
People who fish lobster out of the harbour in Naufrage on Prince Edward Island's north shore say the area where they unload and refuel is filled with moss, causing boats to get stuck at low tide.
"This is an ongoing problem, but this year has been absolutely horrific," said Janet MacDonald, who has been fishing out of Naufrage Harbour with her family for 48 years.
"The problem right now, it's the moss. You can't get in. You can't get out."
She said thus far, crews have been "lucky" because weather conditions have been favourable.
"What's going to happen if somebody's stuck in too long or somebody is stuck in the pond and you can't get past them and everything's starting to bottleneck?" asked MacDonald.
"It doesn't take a scientist to tell you this is just an accident waiting to happen. You cannot replace a life."
MacDonald said approximately 70 boats fish lobster out of Naufrage harbour.
And the problems go beyond getting stuck — moss is getting into boats' exhaust systems, too, causing concerns about possible overheating. Exhaust systems take in water to cool the engine, which can't happen when it's plugged with moss.
Getting tangled in the moss is also damaging boat propellers or blades, which MacDonald said are expensive to replace and hard to find on short notice.
"They start at $3,500 for a set of blades. And it doesn't make any difference whether you have insurance, if you do not have a spare set, you're not going fishing the next day."
It's a frustrating situation for buyers, since they are all located at the wharf's east side, which is seeing the worst of the moss buildup. That's where boats stop to unload their catches and have them weighed.
"This has never happened, where we've had this issue on this side of the wharf," said buyer Jason MacCormack.
"There's generally water issues, but not anything to this extreme where there's seven or eight feet of moss in the whole bullpen. It's never happened."
MacCormack said boats could end up stranded out in the water for several hours when they are unable to dock.
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