Harbours will be dredged soon: DFO

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The Department of Fisheries and Oceans says two lobster wharves in northern New Brunswick will be dredged as soon as possible to provide safe passage for lobster boats.

“We can now confirm that dredging contracts have been awarded for Pointe-Sapin and McEachern’s Point harbours,” Étienne Chiasson, communications advisor for DFO told Brunswick News in an email Thusday. “The department is working around the clock with the dredging companies on timelines for the work to begin as soon as possible. We remain in close communication with the respective Harbour Authorities, who manage daily harbour operations.”

DFO had told Brunswick News last week that funding for the dredging operations was not available this year.

Martin Mallet, executive director of the Martime Fishermen’s Union, said the harbours have sandy bottoms and the channels leading to the docks become clogged through the winter by tides and currents. The dredging operation scrapes away the sand, making the channel deep enough for the boats to pass through at low tide. Mallet said dredging is a “cost of doing business.”

The MFU says the Tabusintac and Pointe-Sapin wharves represent a combined total of 105 fishermen from local communities, as well as Esgenoôpetitj First Nation and Natoaganeg First Nation, with 60 represented by the MFU.

Their average annual lobster catches are valued at a combined $12 million, according to a news release from DFO.

On May 18, 2013, a lobster boat went aground at McEachern’s Point in Tabusintac, resulting in the deaths of the captain and two crew members.

An investigation report stated the need to dredge the McEachern’s Point navigational channel annually.