Nova Scotia has the highest value fishery of all Canadian provinces and territories. It also has the most varied fishery with a wide variety of commercially valuable species found in provincial waters. Landings in the province were worth $617 million in 1999 based on a volume of 286,100 metric tonnes of all fish landed. The Nova Scotian fishery stretches from the waters of the open Atlantic Ocean including lucrative offshore fishing banks such as Georges, Browns and Banqueral Banks, to the high tides of the Bay of Fundy and the diverse southern portion of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The top commercially valuable species include shellfish such as lobster, scallops, crab, shrimp; groundfish such as cod, haddock, pollock, redfish, flatfish, hake, and cusk; and pelagic fish such as tuna, swordfish, herring, mackerel and shark.

The mix of fish landed in Nova Scotia has been altered by the effects of available fish to catch and the value determined by the marketplace. The 1980s were dominated by the groundfishery which grew rapidly after the assumption of Canadian control of our waters out to 200 miles in 1977 from 12 miles previously. Changes in water conditions, overfishing and other concerns has resulted in a decline in groundfishing, including maratoria on fishing in some areas. This has changed the picture of the Nova Scotia fishery so much that in the 2000 fishery groundfish accounts for only 23 percent of all landings and 14 percent of the landed value. This contrasts with 1984 when groundfish accounted for 68 percent of landings and was 43 percent of the landed value in Nova Scotia.

Shellfish is fishery with the highest quantity and value landed, now constituting 42 percent of quantity and 80 percent of the value of all Nova Scotian fish. In 1984 shellfish was a mere 20 percent of landed quantity though it was 50 percent of landed value. Pelagic fish are normally between 6 and 10 percent of the provincial landed value and have grown to be about one-third of the quantity landed while groundfish has dropped off.

In sum, therefore, the overall value of the fishery in Nova Scotia has continued to climb because the value of shellfish landings has increased as groundfish quotas continue to stay at low levels.

In the sections below we will describe how the major fisheries are conducted show the changes in landings and value of the past two decades.

Shellfish live in coastal areas and in offshore waters, mostly on the bottom with the exception of shrimp which swim in the water column near the bottom. Lobster has the highest landings and value, followed by scallops, shrimp and crab. Harvesting methods and seasons vary according to the type of shellfish:

• Lobster are caught in traps placed in specific locations on the sea floor, most often tied one buoy or marker per trap which has been deployed by an inshore vessel 30 – 50 feet. A relatively small offshore fishery (outside 50 miles in this case) uses lines of upwards of 10 larger traps linked together deployed by larger vessels. Lobster traps in inshore areas must be tended every day according to fisheries regulations and catches are brought in live. There is always a lobster season open somewhere in Atlantic Canada throughout the year, but in Nova Scotia the seasons with the largest landings are November to May or June for fisheries along the Bay of Fundy and Scotian Shelf, and spring or summer along the Gulf of St. Lawrence coasts. Most winter catches are sold into live lobster markets whereas spring and summer catches are sold live or processing into whole frozen or lobster meat packs.
  

  Landings: Landings of lobster in Nova Scotia have remained fairly high over the past ten years in the 17,500 to 23,000 metric tonne range, though the lowest catches were in 1996 and have been climbing since. The value of landings climbed fairly steadily over the decade except for 1996 and was $290.4 million in 1999.

• Scallops are caught in dredges or beam trawls which are dragged along the sea floor in areas of high scallop concentrations. A significant portion of the fishery is conducted offshore by larger vessels (80 – 150 feet) according to an Enterprise Allocation system, whereas the remainder is caught by inshore vessels (45-65 feet) under a vessel quota system. The scallops are almost always “shucked” before being landed, which means the two sides of its shell are pried open and the muscle scooped out before it is iced.
  

  Landings: Scallop landings in Nova Scotia fell from the late 1980s until 1996 but have risen a small amount since then. Catches of scallops including the shell weight were 49,171 metric tonnes in 1999. Value of landings has remained fairly consistent in the $58 to 70 million range, with the pleasant exception of great years in 1992-94. The landed value in 1999 was $66,631,000.

• Shrimp are caught in large mesh trawls towed behind draggers or trawlers in the same fashion as groundfish. The shrimp are iced in the hold of boats to retain freshness prior to being off-loaded the end of a 3-5 day trip. Three to six fishermen work on inshore boats during frequent trips. A number of Nova Scotian companies participate in an offshore shrimp fishery using local ports as their home base. The offshore vessels are generally 150 to 250 feet, stay out for trips of 20 to 40 days and pack and freeze their catches on board. These vessels have crew sizes between 18 and 25 or so. These landings are not (???) included in Nova Scotian figures because the fishery is conducted off Labrador and further north.
  

  Landings: Shrimp landings have risen sharply over the decade from about 3,000 mt in 1990 to almost ten times that in 1999. The value has almost increased as dramatically to $92 million in 1999.

• Crab landings have recently been increasing in Nova Scotia but constitutes a smaller percentage of shellfish landings than in Newfoundland and New Brunswick. Crab is caught traps larger than lobster traps and consequently fished from larger boats, normally in the 40 – 65 feet range. Crab fishing trips generally last 1 to 3 days to bring in live crab that has been stored in chilled water or in ice in the boat’s hold. Crab season is primarily spring and summer, though there is a year-round season for crabs found in offshore areas, such as Rock and Jonah crab.
  

  Landings: Crab landings have increased dramatically over the decade from about 3200 in 1990 to around 8500 mt in 1999. The value kept pace too increasing over three times to $30 million in 1999.

• Clam and quahogs are a combined category of tidal water fisheries and an offshore large vessel fishery. In tidal waters clam diggers toil in the spring, summer and fall to harvest soft shell clams and quahogs for domestic and foreign markets. A few large vessels with crews of 25 or so tow hydraulic dredges to catch Stimpson Surf clams, process the catches on board and sell the final product to Japan.
  

  Landings: Clam and quahog landings have varied from about 4,000 to just over 10,000 metric tonnes over the past decade or so. In 1999 landings were near the high end of the range at 9,040 mt at a value of $10 million, also near the high end of the decade.

Groundfish, as the name denotes, live near the sea floor are generally found in large schools so that directing a fishery on a particular species is possible. Sometimes unintended species are caught, however, and these by-catches are part of the regulatory system established by DFO. Groundfish are found throughout provincial waters, though some species are under moratoria from commercial landings especially in the eastern portion of Nova Scotia. In 1993 the cod fishery was stopped in all areas east of Halifax and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, fishing for redfish was stopped in Gulf waters and many other quotas for all groundfish were reduced. The reductions have by and large been maintained since then with a few bright spots of increases on certain stocks. Nevertheless, there still is a cod, haddock, pollock, flatfish fishery as well as smaller quantity groundfisheries active in waters west of Halifax, and to a smaller degree in eastern waters. Interestingly, some species of shellfish have seen increased landings in areas where groundfish are not as plentiful. This phenomenon has not gone unnoticed to fishermen, scientists and fisheries managers.

The groundfish fishery is prosecuted by all sizes of boats from 30 to 180 feet, using from 2 or 3 crew to crews of 15 or so. Smaller inshore boats upwards of 35 feet primarily fish using handlines or jiggers. Handlines are long lines baited with many hooks deployed and hauled by hand or a small pulley-type hauler. Jiggers use a small number of individually hooked lines deployed from the boat by small machines that automatically jolt the line to snag the fish.

Boats in the 35 – 65 foot range are usually of two types, fixed gear or mobile gear. Fixed gear boats include longlining and gill netting as the two most prominent methods of fishing. Longliners deploy a long length of line to which are connected many short lines (or leaders) each with a single baited hook on the end. These lines are set and retrieved daily and are floated just up from the bottom. The size of hooks used generally determines the minimum size of fish caught. Mobil gear boats are commonly called draggers or trawlers if they are larger. These boats tow a large funnel shaped net that “drags” the bottom with a wide mouth to herd schools of fish into “codend” or smaller part at the end. The size and characteristics of mesh used at the end determines the selectivity of the net. The net is towed by the vessel at about 3-4 knots over areas of fish concentrations. Both types of boats generally take 3 to 7 day fishing trips, often clean their fish while working and ice their catch to ensure high quality fish is landed. The larger the boats in this size range the more likely the boat is owned by a fishing company that may also be a fish processor, and the fishing trips are generally a few days longer.

Vessels over 65 feet and up to 180 feet or so are most always trawlers, or large draggers, and a few are large longliners. The 100 feet and up category is called the “offshore” and includes companies that have their own quota to plan their fishing activities.

Landings of groundfish reflect the continued moratoria in many Nova Scotian waters and reduced quota elsewhere. In the 1980s landings were consistently in the 250,000 to 300,000 mt range, but have fallen to around 67,000 metric tonnes in 1999. The value of groundfish landings has fallen similarly but not to the same extent due to changes in the dollar and fairly good prices in a period of reduced availability.

The main species of pelagic fish, fish that swim throughout the water column, include small pelagics like herring and mackerel and large pelagics like tuna and swordfish. Other species of pelagics caught in Nova Scotian waters are sharks, skates, and gaspereau.

• Herring constitutes the highest volume of landings of all fish in Nova Scotian waters though is a low value species. The low price means that high volumes must be caught in order for boats to make any money. The primary harvesting method is purse seine which is deployed from vessels ranging from 50 feet to over 125 feet. The seine net is set around a school of herring, the bottom pulled tight to secure the fish which are then pumped into the boat. Smaller boats in the 30 to 45 foot range also catch herring using gill nets. Plus, there is a weir fishery which uses fixed nets strung on poles planted into the sea floor in tidal areas. The seiners take about 80 percent of the herring and fixed gear methods, gill net and weirs catch the remainder. Seiners use 4 to 6 men per boat to operate the seine including run a smaller “runaboat” that is deployed from the seiner called a skif.

  Landings: herring landings ranged from 75-100,000 metric tonnes throughout most of the 1990s and was as high as 124,000 in 1988. The value in 1999 was just over $15 million for 86,608 tonnes in 1999, or about 7.8 cents per pound average.

• Mackerel is the second largest small pelagic fishery but it is a much smaller fishery than that for herring. Though purse seiners can catch mackerel, their proportion of the fishery is quite small. Most mackerel in Nova Scotia are caught in traps that are a complicated arrangement of netting anchored to the bottom in areas where schools of mackerel are known to swim. Open deck inshore boats are used to set the traps and to deliver the mackerel from the traps to local plant. The prime market for mackerel is as bait for other fisheries. Other uses are fresh to local markets or frozen to foreign markets for food.

  Landings: Mackerel landings have been dropping steadily over the 1990 from just over 9,000 mt in 1990 to 4785 in 1999. The value, however, has not dropped as much from $2,934,000 in 1990 to $2,146,000 in 1999.

• Tuna is a high value pelagic fish and is primarily sold to the lucrative Japanese fresh tuna market. Bluefin tuna is prized for its taste with individual fish worth $25,000 in some cases when they arrive in Tokyo. Other tuna species such as Yellowfin and Bigeye are sometimes sold fresh or sometimes frozen. Bluefin tuna are mostly caught on single lines that are trailed from 35-65 foot boats during the late summer and early fall. Yellowfin and Bigeye tuna are caught mostly by longlines similar to swordfish (see below). Three or four fishermen usually comprise a crew on daily trips to the fishing grounds. The location of the tuna fishery varies over time as the schools of fish return to their home areas every year.

  Landings: Tuna landings have ranged from 400 to almost 900 tonnes in the 1990s and were 719 tonnes in 1999. The value of the fishery has varied from $6.7 to 16.3 million the past decade and was $11.6 million in 1999.

• Swordfish is caught by longline boats that range from 45 feet to around 100 feet in length. The longlines are almost exclusively made of monofilament plastic up to 30 miles long with leaders coming off every 10 to 20 metres. The gear is set in the evening and retrieved the next day. Crews vary according to the size of the boat from 5 to about 10 men. The boats take trips that range from 5 days to upwards of three weeks depending upon location of the fishery and the size of the boat.

  Landings: Swordfish landings ranged from about 1500 to 650 metric tonnes over the 1990 and were 865 mt in 1999. The value ranged consistent with the landings and was $6.5 million in 1999.

• Other pelagic fish of value are sharks which have become part of the Nova Scotia fishery only since 1994. Sharks are caught by longlines identical to swordfish but in different water temperature areas or depths so as to avoid by-catches of swordfish and tuna. Boats in the 45 to 140 feet range are used. The two largest vessels fish for up to 40 days and freeze their catch on board while the smaller boats ice their sharks to land them fresh. Crew sizes range from 5 on the smaller boats to 11 on the larger boats.

  Landings: In 1995 landings were about 1,500 metric tonnes worth $3 million but declined to 1,000 mt worth $1 million in 1999.

Despite continued moratoria on cod stocks in the eastern half of Nova Scotia, the landed value of all species of fish for the province continues on an upward climb. In 1999 Nova Scotia landed $617 million worth of fish, up from about $450 million a decade earlier. The reason stems from the fact that the value of shellfish landed has climbed dramatically. Groundfish continues to employ significant numbers of fishermen but the landed value has dropped by about 60 percent from 1991 to 1999. Pelagic fishing remains a solid fishery for many fishermen and boats but for each species there are relatively good and bad years of landings and value depending upon the cyclical health of the stock and the market situation.

Shellfish constituted between 20-25 percent of landings and 50-55 percent of value in the early 1990s but in 1999 was 42 percent of quantity landed and 80 percent of the value. The shellfish value is a record though interestingly the quantity landed is about the same as 10 years ago. There was a dip in landings in 1996 with sharp increases this then.

You can download a table with all Nova Scotia landing and value statistics by individual species and categories of species like groundfish, shellfish and pelagics that were used to produce the graphs used on this page. Download Landings Value Spreadsheet (MS-Excel).