It will bring jobs !!! hehe Just the opposite I am afraid. If an oil well is permitted in the Gulf, PEI is one slip-up away from a complete and total ecological and economic devastation. Who would come to our sandy, oily beaches ? How bout that lobster fishery ? Just the thought of what could and did happen in the Gulf of Mexico should give us all pause.

Groups concerned about offshore oil and gas drilling left P.E.I. Thursday headed for the Magdalen Islands, where a meeting is being held on a proposed new exploration well in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

"The proposed location is right in the middle of the Laurentian channel and that carries water to the whole Gulf," said Marilyn Clark, a student from Memorial University working to encourage fisheries groups to become engaged in protecting the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

"So it becomes a national concern to five provinces from that location."

Four Islanders were part of the small group that left Souris for the Magdalen Island.

Islanders concerned about exploratory oil well
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2011/04/07/pei-...

As some people have feared, this year's Bluefin Tuna fishery on PEI has added to the glut on the markets, resulting in low prices and few buyers. It was reported that some fisherman have been disposing of the fish in woods and fields. This is really sad and shows very poor management of this species at a time when bluefin's are under very heavy pressure from overfishing and now the aftermath of the Gulf of Mexico's BP's oil spill.

Prices for tuna caught off P.E.I.'s North Shore last week were poor, and buyers could not be found at all for some fish, leaving fishermen to figure out how to get rid of the catch.

The whole of the quota for the fall fishery was caught in two days last week. The bonanza came just a week after Nova Scotia fishermen raced through their own quota. Both regions compete for the same international market, and the resulting glut has depressed prices.

Walter Bruce, chair of the P.E.I. Tuna Advisory Council, said a few fishermen are getting prices as high as $16 a pound, but most tuna is going for much less.

The council warned Island fishermen there would be a glut of tuna on the market if they caught the entire quota in a few days, Bruce said. The council advised stretching the season over a few weeks.

Tuna goes to coyote feed
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2010/10/12/pei-tuna-...

PEI Bluefin tuna fishermen caught their quota in 2 days. I like the fact that we use a hook an line fishery, but i do not like fishermen assuming that abundance here means tuna are not in trouble.

The P.E.I. bluefin tuna fishery closed Tuesday with all of this year's quota caught in two days of fishing.

Colin MacIsaac, chief of resource management with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans on P.E.I., said about 290 Island fisherman took part and about 80 per cent of them caught a tuna.

The average weight of the approximately 390 tuna caught this year was 339 kg, and this year's quota was 132 tonnes.

P.E.I. tuna catch reaches quota in 2 days
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2010/10/06/pei-tuna....

A strong start to the tuna season on P.E.I. has fishermen wondering why scientists are considering recommending listing the fish as endangered.

Scientists from the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada are reviewing the status of bluefin tuna stocks in the western Atlantic, and plan on making a recommendation to the federal departments of Environment and Fisheries and Oceans.

Fishermen landed 144 tuna in the first eight hours of fishing Monday off of P.E.I.'s North Shore. Officials expect the remainder of the quota to be caught Tuesday, meaning Island fishermen will catch their quota in two days, just as Nova Scotia fishermen did last week.

Tuna not endangered: fishermen
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2010/10/05/pei-tuna-...

The Irish Moss harvest has been in steady decline in PEI, but not that long ago, we produced and shipped over 50,000 tonnes of Irish Moss for processing. PEI provided up to one third of the global Irish Moss harvest. That's a lot !

Miminegash is in danger of losing its title of Irish Moss Capital of the World.

“There’s no Irish Moss on the west side this year. None at all,” proclaimed Ronnie Costain, operator of Oceanside Seaweed in Miminegash.

Most of the moss his company bought this year came from the north side.

“We had a pretty good run of furscelleria. The moss, we didn’t buy a whole lot,” Costain said.

It’s a similar story for moss on the wharf at Miminegash where Maritime Sea Products is based.

“It’s the first time since 1967 that I didn’t buy Irish Moss in the harbour of Miminegash,” Maritime Sea Products operator Audie Murphy stated.

Irish moss harvest not what it used to be
http://www.journalpioneer.com/News/Local/2010-08-13/article-1672144/Iris...

http://www.journalpioneer.com/News/Local/2010-08-13/article-1672144/Iris...

The Minke whale that washed up on Cavendish beach recently has been given a special burial.

From CBC:
A dead whale that washed up on P.E.I. has been laid to rest in a unique burial place.

Environment officials have buried the remains of an eight-metre-long female minke whale in a huge compost pit.

"The thought process is to just see how they compost and what's left after the compost procedure," said wildlife biologist Chuck Gallison.

The burial pit is in a field in St. Andrews, approximately 25 kilometres northeast of Charlottetown. The pit contains straw and manure, and underground pipes will help a team control oxygen and temperature levels. The hope is that the whale flesh will melt away, and the bones will remain — clean and whole.
...
P.E.I. whale gets special burial
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2010/07/29/pei-whale...

The Guardian Newspaper is reporting a Minke whale has washed up on Cavendish beach. It's not reported in the article, but i think i heard that this is the third Minke whale to wash up on PEI shores this summer.

From Guardian Newspaper:
An eight-metre female minke whale that was found dead ashore in Cavendish Beach this week was transported and buried Wednesday.

The beached whale was reported to Parks Canada at about 9 a.m. Tuesday.

Minke whale washes up on Cavendish beach
http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/News/Local/2010-07-28/article-1629087/Minke...

Here is a CBC report of a Minke whale washing up back in June. I cannot find references to a third whale washing up..

Whale found dead on P.E.I. beach
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2010/06/16/pei-pilot...

A followup CBC article about this whale points the finger to fishing gear as a possible reason for the whale death.

Whale death blamed on fishing gear
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2010/06/29/pei-whale...

The Charlottetown sewer system is in some serious need of upgrading, as once again the harbor has been closed to shellfish harvesting. The city is blaming heavy rains which overwhelm the system and cause overflow to be released directly into the harbor. I don't think that a normal day of rain should cause this, but apparently it is. I believe it is a good idea that CFIA does this monitoring and close areas when necessary. Hopefully, this will encourage Charlottetown to update the sewer system.

From CBC:
A sewage overflow this week into the Charlottetown Harbour again closed sections of the West and North rivers popular for shellfishing.

The season for fishing quahog, a type of clam, opened last week on Prince Edward Island, but a two-kilometre section of West River has been off limits most of the summer.

That has left quahog fishermen scrambling to find alternate locations to catch the mollusks.

"The No. 1 priority is food safety," said John White of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. "We want to make sure that whatever shellfish is being harvested is not going to make anyone ill."

Sewage stops shellfishing again
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2010/07/23/pe-shellf...

In a troubling discovery, DFO is encountering greater numbers of green crab in eastern waters of PEI.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2010/07/22/pei-green...