Fiona damage to mussel leases creates tangled mess on P.E.I.’s south shore

Mussel fishers in 9 Mile Creek, P.E.I., have spent the weeks since Fiona gathering up the buoys, strains and cement blocks swept away in the course of the storm. 

A few of the particles was carried as far-off as Orwell on the Island’s south shore, greater than 16 kilometres away. 

Gerry MacDonald fishes lobster and mussels out of 9 Mile Creek.

He stated they’ve been capable of retrieve about 15 per cent of the mussel strains and anchors, however the remainder will must be changed in time for subsequent season.

“Devastating. All of our tools is gone, in a pile on the market, so [we] should rebuild proper from the beginning, and clear up the mess moreover,” MacDonald stated.

“We have some buoys again, however the mussels, they’re all in a pile. Cement blocks are fairly properly broke off, and the strains are all chafed and ruined.”

‘All bought twisted up’

MacDonald stated he, his brother Donald, and Andrew Bryanton every had 20 strains, that each one drifted towards the Charlottetown Harbour.

“All of them bought twisted up in one another,” MacDonald stated. 

“We predict {that a} tree in all probability come off the shore, and as soon as it hooked in a single line, it was only a domino impact.”

MacDonald stated they’re making an attempt to retrieve as most of the mussels as they’ll, however have misplaced greater than 80 per cent of them as properly.

“The mussels had been too small to reap, so we could not do something earlier than the storm,” MacDonald stated. 

“We’re near the shore, and we did not actually anticipate something to occur to our mussel strains, however anyway, that is the storm.”

Harvesting what’s left of the mussels can also be time-consuming due to all of the tangled strains, taking 3 times as lengthy to reap, bringing in particles as they discover it.

“Often we will exit inside an hour, get a load of mussels, and it is about three hours to a load roughly now,” stated Andrew Bryanton.

Ball of buoys

The P.E.I. Division of Fisheries despatched out a barge this week to select up a big bundle of buoys that has been caught within the Northumberland Strait since September.

“The skin leases took off and went all the way down to Orwell in a ball, and had been there for a very long time and could not be moved,” stated Donald MacDonald, who fishes out of 9 Mile Creek and has a lease close to the place the tangled buoys landed. 

“It was a ball of buoys, and it was caught stable in 30 ft.”

MacDonald stated there will likely be long term impacts from the Fiona harm, and most at 9 Mile Creek could have fewer mussels within the water subsequent season.

“We’ve our seed which we had salvaged a bit, nevertheless it additionally cleaned our seed out too, so 70 per cent of our seed is gone, which units us again for subsequent yr,” MacDonald stated. 

“So the next yr, we needs to be again within the recreation. We’re gonna re-line, re-block and go once more, and hope there is no extra Fionas.”

MacDonald stated the mussel fishers will likely be taking precautions to attempt to keep away from one other huge lack of gear. 

“Whichever means the wind blows, if it is that quantity of wind, we’re not protected,” MacDonald stated. 

“We’re placing extra blocks on, heavier line on, and extra anchors in, and hope for the very best. However you do not know, proper?”

The mussel fishers at 9 Mile Creek stated they’ve utilized to Fiona compensation packages. 

Earlier this fall, Peter Warris of the Aquaculture Alliance stated the initial estimate of damage from Fiona was roughly $70 million.

That included harm to gear, mussel socks and seed, which Warris stated would affect the business for years to return.