With 1st North Shore catches in, P.E.I. lobster crews 'cross fingers' they get a good price

Fishing crews on P.E.I.'s North Shore landed their first catch of the season on Monday, six days later than planned.

And so far so good, said Stephen Ramsay, who fishes out of North Rustico.

"The lobster looks good," he said. "Nice shiny stuff around, hard shell, looks good."

It'll be a few more days, however, before he and other North Shore crews know what they'll be paid for it.

Ramsay said the prices he's heard have been "all over the map" so far.

All they can do is "cross our fingers," he said. "Expenses are there and everything's increased so hopefully it'll compensate for the increase in expenses and everybody's happy."

The season in Lobster Fishing Area 26A, stretching from Victoria to Souris along the Island's southeast coast, opened April 27. But setting day in LFA24 on the North Shore, where the lion's share of P.E.I.'s lobster is caught, was delayed until Sunday due to high winds.

The lost time means North Shore boats will get an extra four days at the end of the season, which is now set to close on July 3, said Ian MacPherson, executive director of the P.E.I. Fishermen's Association.

"We don't want to go over the four days because then the lobsters start to get into their molting cycle and we don't want to disrupt that at all. So that's why there is a four-day limit."

Kendall Costello and other lobster fishers in North Rustico seemed to take the delay in stride.

"We waited a little while to go, but the main thing is we got a nice day," he said of the weather on Sunday. "It was safe, everybody got their gear out, and that's the main thing on setting day."