Lobster ground access granted Canadian officials say PEI fishermen can return to disputed area

SEACOW POND, Prince Edward Island – Fishermen on Prince Edward Island’s north shore will once again be allowed to set lobster traps in a lucrative fishing area known as “the ledge” after a yearlong boundary dispute with Quebec.

Canada’s federal fisheries minister, Robert Thibault, announced Friday he is granting access to all of McLeod’s Ledge for PEI fishermen in Area 24 during the upcoming fishing season.

The federal fisheries department forced the fishermen off a section of the ledge last May when the waters were found to be actually part of Quebec’s lobster fishing Area 22, even though the ledge is just seven kilometers from North Cape, the island’s northwestern tip.

Island fishermen argued they have fished the area for decades, while Quebec fishermen have never shown an interest in the area.

Thibault’s decision was welcome news to Francis Morrissey, one of about 28 fishermen who regularly sets gear on the ledge.

He and other island fishermen had always maintained that the ledge should be part of the PEI district, stressing that it’s too far removed to be of any value to Quebec fishermen.

Morrissey also has argued that federal officials didn’t take into account traditional fishing grounds when drawing up the boundary line in the mid-1980s.

That view wasn’t challenged by Thibault, who acknowledged Friday that McLeod’s Ledge was included “by default” in LFA 22 when the zone was created in 1985.

“The right decision has been made,” said Joe McGuire, Liberal member of Parliament for Egmont, who relayed the news to local fishermen Friday. He said the minister has made a de facto recognition that the ledge falls within LFA 24 and initiated a process that will result in a permanent line change.

“The minister didn’t want to make [McLeod’s Ledge] an election issue,” McGuire said, acknowledging that awarding a small section of LFA 22 to Prince Edward Island during the recent Quebec election campaign could have had political implications.

He said the minister’s office has communicated with the new Quebec government since the election, explaining the line change.

LFA 22 is much larger than other lobster fishing areas in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence. It includes the Magdalen Islands, but there is no indication Magdalen Island fishermen use McLeod’s Ledge since it is nearly 100 kilometers away.

Canadian federal scientists have said that fishing activities on McLeod’s Ledge will not have an impact on the lobster population around the Magdalen Islands.