Dumping Day

Pop Quiz: Do you the meaning of Dumping Day?'
Throughout much of Nova Scotia, it refers to the day lobster traps are 'dumped' into the water in a race to get to the most coveted locales across fishing grounds. That event occurred yesterday, in fishing ports in Areas 33 and 34:

all the way from Digby around to Cole Harbour, near Halifax.
Fisheries and Oceans Canada had delayed the start by 24 hours because high winds would have made it dangerous for thousands of boats to leave port with high deck loads of traps.
Blogger Wally Hayes, has written a colourful account of the lobster fishing culture.
Dumping Day is considered a holiday within Yarmouth & Acadian Shores. It is held the last Monday of November every year, and marks the start of the lobster fishing season.
He visited one wharf couple of days before Dumping Day. Here is some of what he saw:

Spread over three docks were more than 80 lobster boats, each with an allotment of 375 traps and an almost equal number of coloured ropes and floats. I did my unofficial math and figured I was looking at as many as 30,000 traps and enough rope to stretch the 700 kilometers from one end of Nova Scotia to the other, with a float or buoy every 1/10 of a kilometer along the way.
And that's just from Lower West Pubnico!"
In nearby Yarmouth, classes at the local schools are suspended for the day and students armed with flashlights flock to the rocky shore of Cape Forchu beneath the Yarmouth Lighthouse to wave their lights as the parade of fishing boats races by in the black, pre dawn darkness. The fishermen respond by lighting the shore with floodlights from their boats.

The weekly newspaper, Yarmouth Vanguard reports that the blessing of the fleet takes place at 5:45 a.m.

Residents are encouraged to support the fishing industry by attending the early morning event at the lighthouse, where the fleet is blessed by VHF radio and everyone is encouraged to shine a flashlight as the boats depart Yarmouth Harbou At 6 a.m. boats depart Yarmouth Harbour as well as dozens of others along the coast of this region.

The lobster fishery contributes millions of dollars into the Nova Scotian and Canadian economies.
A report by Fisheries and Oceans Canada confirms:
-- Landings: Annual lobster landings average 50,000 to 55,000 tonnes.
-- Value: Lobster is Canada’s most valuable seafood export, with annual exports of $805 million in 2009. While the U.S. is the primary market, lobster is also exported to an additional 59 countries, including many in Europe, and even Japan.
Planeloads of live lobsters are shipped through Halifax Stanfield International Airport, particularly in the weeks and days before Christmas.
But, in the face of ocean danger, the toughest of working conditions, heavy investments in boats and gear -- a lobster fishing licence, IF YOU CAN GET ONE, can cost more than half-a million dollars -- is it lucrative for the individual fisherman?
Bill Jessome of CBC News reported that, 'Fishermen will have to wait until next week before the price of lobster settles for this year. The price last year started at around $3.50 per pound and increased slightly by season's end.'
Most fishermen maintain that they need a stable price of $4.00 per pound, just to break even.