Dumping Day

Experience "Dumping Day" first hand in the Lobster Capital of Canada, the Municipality of Barrington. The largest lobster fishing industry in Canada opens on the last Monday in November each year and while the majority of us are making our Christmas lists, a lot of the men (and some women!) are making their lobstering lists and checking them twice right now. Traps, bait bags, rope (lots of rope!), buoys, and the list goes on.  "Dumping Day" in Southwest Nova is considered the most dangerous day of the lobster season.  The day when all the pots (375 in District 34) are "dumped" into the ocean and the fishermen then hold their breath in hopes that they have placed them in the right, lucrative spot.

You can join in on dumping day festivities on Cape Sable Island with an early morning (starts at 4AM) hot breakfast at the Barrington & Island Fire Department in Centreville, then head down to any of the local wharves and join the many families gathered there waiting for the 6AM start of the lobster season and to wish the anxious fishermen well.

It is certainly a sight to see all the boats filled with lobster pots, gear and crew. With their motors humming they wait for their time to leave the wharf in search of the perfect spot to set their pots.  The lobster fishery accounts for 35 percent of total economic returns in southwest Nova, and each year starts with an uncertainty about what the years catch will bring and the price of lobsters.  The past couple of years has seen some of the lowest prices for lobsters most fisherman have ever experienced, but none the less, they risk their lives in high winds and waves on the Atlantic Ocean in hopes of making a good living to raise their families on.

Don't forget to come back and visit us in June, when we celebrate our Lobster Heritage during Lobster Festival, June 2,3,4 & 5th, 2011. Hope to see you then! 

Enjoy Nova Scotia Lobster!

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