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Shellfish harvesters frustrated over area closure one day into shortened season

Just a day after some wild oyster fishermen started their season without a buyer, P.E.I.'s shellfish association says the industry has been dealt another blow.

On Tuesday, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) shut down a popular oyster and quahog fishing area near Stratford in the Hillsborough River, known as Area D.

That's after officials in Stratford discovered higher than allowable bacteria levels in the effluent coming from the town's sewage lagoon.

"So I have to move to other areas, which makes it more dangerous. I have to sail further up the East River," said Carl Palmer, who learned of the closure after picking quahogs Tuesday. "I get about half the catch elsewhere, as I would if I could fish Area D. So it cuts my catch in half."

Steve Bruce/CBC
Steve Bruce/CBC

Bob MacLeod, the shellfish association's president, says about 25 fishermen typically fish in the area.

Given the season was already delayed by a month due to market concerns fuelled by the pandemic, MacLeod said the closure hurts.

"This closure could last 14 days. So that's two weeks of the season gone, when most buyers are only talking buying [for] a month," he said. "Those 25 fishermen have to go to another river.… It puts a lot of pressure on overfishing in those areas."

Sewage sludge not removed in time

Stratford officials say the pandemic can take part of the blame for the effluent issues.

Jeremy Crosby, the town's infrastructure director, says back in early March, the town started planning to remove sewage sludge from the lagoon, which he says collects on the bottom and can interfere with the water treatment process in the spring.

Crosby said the goal was to have a company remove that sludge and and pump it into geotube bags next to the lagoon for storage, well before the scheduled start of the shellfish season on May 1.

"But as a result of travel restrictions, and getting permission for this company to come over during the COVID-19 pandemic, it did delay the process longer than we would've liked," said Crosby.

Steve Bruce/CBC
Steve Bruce/CBC

He said the company didn't start the sludge removal until May 22, and wasn't able to finish the job before the start of the delayed season on June 1. So some of the sludge was left behind and interfered with the process to treat the water before it was released into the Hillsborough River.

"We still felt that it would be best to try to remove as much of the sludge as we could," said Crosby. "We're hopeful the effluent quality will return to normal, and the season can open up here soon."

But MacLeod points out this isn't a new problem. He said the same fishing area was closed down twice last May due to water quality concerns at Stratford's sewage lagoon.

"This is a little bit ridiculous, the hardship it's putting on people," he said.

Lagoon shutting down this fall

Crosby acknowledges that even with sludge removal taking place every few years, the town's water treatment process has had its problems.

He said it's one of the reasons the town is decommissioning the lagoon this fall and spending $10.9 million dollars to start pumping sewage to Charlottetown's waste water treatment plant.

"We've struggled with the lagoon system over the years. And with it not being there and being pumped to a mechanical plant, we're confident we're going to resolve this problem," said Crosby.

Steve Bruce/CBC
Steve Bruce/CBC

"I just hope they're right," said Macleod. "I really hope this is solved after this year. But we'll just have to wait and see on that one I guess."

It's not clear when fishing will be able to resume in Area D. Crosby said while the town is conducting daily water testing, it will ultimately be up to DFO to decide when it's safe to open the area back up.

The oyster and quahog season officially ends July 15.

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