Communications Working Group
The
communications working group is making progress with establishing signage
around the MPA and opening lines of communication to the general public
through Fisheries and Oceans Canada, as well as Parks Canada, town councils
on the Eastport Peninsula and local businesses.
A generous
donation of $10,000 from Petro-Canada will fund a promotional highway sign,
advisory signs at boat launches and wharves, as well as on the MPA islands
themselves, and interpretive signage. Signs will be installed during the
fall of 2006. Some of the interpretive signage will be integrated into a
site being developed by Eastport Town Council at an excellent location
adjacent to Eastport Beach. An informational brochure and a placemat are
also in development for distribution to local businesses.
Meanwhile, the
MPA Program staff at Fisheries and Oceans Canada are liaising with Parks
Canada Wardens and DFO’s Conservation and Protection Officers to inform them
about the MPA regulations and discuss with them how best to inform the
public of the special status of these areas.
The Steering
Committee will discuss signage development and other promotional and public
awareness initiatives at its meeting to be held this fall.
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Lobster Research
At-sea lobster
sampling was carried out again this summer by local fish harvesters, with
more research planned for the fall. William and Michelle Mercer, fishing in
the Salvage-Eastport Bay area, John and Flossie Rogers fishing out of St.
Chad’s and Terry Travers, fishing in partnership with George Feltham in
Newman Sound, returned data on the number, size, sex, and reproductive
status (female only) from every 4th pot hauled during the
commercial fishing season.
From
mid-September to early October, Gordon and Pat Janes will capture, tag and
release lobsters in and around the Duck Island MPA, while Rick and Nicole
Elliott will undertake the same work at the Round Island MPA. The work
inside the MPAs is allowed by a Ministerial Permit to conduct research.
Several
harvesters have also returned log books recording their fishing activities
this summer, including information from re-captured tagged lobsters. All
this data will be processed over the winter, added to the database and used
as a management and planning tool. |
