Breathe

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I knew there was something wrong when I woke up this morning. It took me a while to realize that there were no foghorns blowing. Today will be another hot one and overnight the last remnants of Hurricane Ida are supposed to start dumping about 2 inches of rain on us. I’ll plan on reading – not exactly a hardship. 🙂

Those shags in the first image aren’t the only ones looking for the fish. They just aren’t coming into the coves as they should and “discouraged” is a mild description of the mood on this Island.

There has been a lot of discussion about the “why” when we can see fish off shore. Personally, I think that once those salmon nets leaching copper are cleaned up it will help.

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It turns out there is something else wrong. I don’t understand the numbers but the level of oxygen in the shallow waters is really low. It’s so bad that the fish farms on Grand Manan have been evacuating their fish. The salmon can be seen floating belly-up in the cages – they just can’t survive the way things are.

The companies which own those cages are desperate enough that they are hiring any kind of pumper to transport their “crop”. Boats which usually would have herring in their holds are now forming convoys to move salmon to the mainland for early processing. It’s not like they’re needed for anything else right now.

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Storms might help. Cleaning up the water might help. I don’t know what else could improve things – maybe some offerings to Mother Nature. She really isn’t happy. I’m crossing my fingers that the lobster season will be a good one.

The lack of an inshore fishery will affect the men trying to get lobster though. Prices for bait (which is herring) are expected to be astronomical.

A few people are finding what they’re looking for. If you fish off the corner of Jackson Breakwater, as the tide moves from flood to ebb, you can get some mackerel as they swing past on their way to deeper water. These two had a very successful morning. I just wish the other fishermen here could get what they need.

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