‘Dumping Day’ docked by blustery forecasts in effort to make lobster hunt safer
HALIFAX — On the last Monday of November, lobster fishers sail into the sunrise peeking over the waters off southern Nova Scotia, boats teeming with stacks of cages, coiled lines and buoys inscribed with permanent marker.
They call it “Dumping Day” — the seasonal kickoff to the crustacean catch in what is widely considered to be the most lucrative lobster regions in the country.
This year, around 1,700 boats are set to steam off for favoured fishing grounds, trailed by trawls of up to 15 traps strung together like Christmas lights that sink to seabed in their wake.
Come Monday, however, the fleet of ships may float idly in their ports as the decades-old tradition is expected to be docked — at least for 24 hours — by blustery forecasts.