FNFA conducted a project under the WSGF program that tested a variety of innovative low breaking-strength devices for our lobster and crab fisheries from Spring 2022 to Spring 2023. The main goal of the project was to develop configurations of weak endlines for lobster and crab gear in the Bay of Fundy that will reduce the risk of entanglement to marine mammals, while enabling successful fishing. 

There has been an identified lack of detailed scientific data on Bay of Fundy surface currents outside of Saint John Harbour. To counter this, we built a knowledge base of nearshore oceanographic and hydrographic data for the area by conducting a study of currents in the Bay of Fundy area using drifters. By comparing the results from these drifters to fishermen’s knowledge of surface currents (collected in 2019), we have been able to make valuable assessments on seasonal weather patterns influencing currents, such as winds and temperatures, and how those factors have changed over time. This comparison will be particularly relevant in determining the impact of climate change on surface currents, by exploring the perceived generational changes fishermen have observed in prevailing wind conditions. 

The overpopulation of Brown Bullheads (catfish) in our river systems, has made fishing increasingly difficult, and frustrating, for those in the traditional fisheries (eel, shad, gaspereau).  When the fishing gear is pulled, it is, more often than not, filled with these catfish instead of the eels, shad, or gaspereau they are actually fishing for. The overabundance of catfish has reached the point of causing financial hardship to our river fishermen and poses a threat to the continuance of the traditional fisheries. Since 2014, Fundy North has been trying to find a solution to the catfish problem. 

Reducing Whale Entanglement by Reducing Ghost Fishing, 2012

Engaging Fishermen in Right whale Stewardship, 2011