Stuck at Sea
We were stuck at sea for 4 hours yesterday.
The tide was so low that we weren’t able to get through the channel that leads back to our harbour. Our only option was to wait for the tide to rise so that we could safely make it back to shore.
My dad, Joey, has been fishing these waters for over 50 years and this is the first time this has happened to him. But the channel has been changing over the years.
North Rustico used to be one of the best maintained harbours on the island and it is now in very poor condition and we need to do something about it.
While we had 4 hours stuck out there yesterday, Joey gave us a brief history lesson of the harbour. Our family has been fishing it for generations, so he is a wealth of knowledge about what has happened over the years and how much things have really changed.
There used to be 3 harbours between North Rustico and Brackley Beach. I had no idea!
In 1954 the National Park decided to close the harbour that was on the east side of Robinson’s island - it was called Little Harbour - as they had plans to build a causeway for cars to be able to drive from Brackley Beach to Cavendish along the water. Unfortunately this decision has had very large negative impacts over the last 70 years.
Since then, everything has been shifting. There is approximately 3 miles of coast gone and all of that sand is now in the North Rustico Harbour.
Joey has been marking the channel (putting those red and green buoys in place so that the boats know where to go) in our harbour for over 45 years so he knows very well how much it has changed. And while he does his best to mark a clear path for everyone to get through, he can’t do anything about the fact that there just isn’t enough water in some areas.
Leading up to this lobster season which opened on April 25, Joey knew that the channel wasn’t in good shape and was asking for support in the form of dredging to make it clear and safe for passage. We were able to get a permit granted in time for some to be done in the days before setting day but yesterday was a clear indication that it simply wasn’t enough.
We are asking our local Member of Parliament to get another permit for further dredging but we expect this to continue to be an issue for us, especially in the week of the full moon like it is now as that shifts the tides more drastically.
This conversation needs to continue, it can’t make headlines one day and then be pushed aside and forgotten about. The impacts are huge and we must find a solution.
