Lobstermen in Southwest Nova Scotia cast their gear into waters on ‘Dumping Day’ November 24, 2025, ushering a six-month lobster trapping season.
By the time the exciting ‘day 1’ was nearing its climax at midnight, fishers were busy hauling in their initial catch.
This winter lobstering marathon is taking place in Lobster Fishing Areas (LFA) 33 and 34, from Yarmouth County through Halifax.
The LFA 33 fishery, which encapsulates Halifax County’s Cow Bay westward to Baccaro Point, opened at 7 a.m. local time.
LFA 34 had opened two hours earlier at 5 a.m., from Baccaro Point to Shelburne County west and Digby County near Yarmouth.
Unlike recent seasons, the current one escaped postponement due to a timely meeting between fishing stakeholders and authorities on November 23.
Initial catch reports on the 25th had fishers at Lockeport citing low early hauls, mostly consisting soft-shelled lobster.
Lucrativeness Meets Conservation in the Southwest
There is hope however that this lobster season might reprise 2024’s financial gains for southwest Nova Scotia, amid conservation efforts.
In 2024, the two LFOs landed lobster worth C$540 million ($384.53 million), invoking the wider province’s vast shellfish fortunes.
Sailing to recoup 2024 turnover were over 1,400 vessels that have already set their traps, per 1015 the Hawk news.
To help conserve the seasonal bounty, the Government of Nova Scotia cautioned fishers to observe safety.
From 2026 to date there have been over 1,700 safety drills, some of them taking place on board fishing vessels.
On top of that, the entire province helps preserve the shellfish resource by removing illegal traps. Between June and September 2025, authorities put 4,400 lobster back into the sea after dislodging 1,000 illegal traps off the Atlantic coast.
It seems like the conservation efforts are paying off for the entire province earned C$1.3 billion ($925.73 million) from lobster exports in 2024. The statistics below extend the points further by assessing provincial landings in Canada.
Nova Scotia and Provincial Canada Lobster Landings Statistics
Nova Scotia on Canada’s southeast coast is a leading source of lobster by volume, which peaked at 51,000 tonnes annually (2014). Landings had shrunk to 39,817 tonnes by 2023, however, according to the Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). But this was still the highest catch nationally, with runner-up Prince Edward Island catching half this volume at 18,941 tonnes. Below is a sample province-by-province production totals for Canada in 2023:
| Province | Landings [tonnes] |
| Nova Scotia | 39,817 |
| Prince Edward Island | 18,941 |
| New Brunswick | 16,966 |
| Quebec | 14,466 |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 7,274 |
| Canada [total] | 97,465 |
Nova Scotia also comes top 2 in lobster turnover. In the 2022-23 season, for instance, it earned C$450 million ($314.3 million) from lobster, just behind New Brunswick’s C$693.1 million ($484.1 million).
In terms of trade, Nova Scotia (NS) commands a vibrant retail lobster sector that boasts over 160 buyer-and-seller companies, as of 2014. Some of their shellfish processes at home but most sells in the U.S.’ market, which attracts 60% of NS’ annual lobster exports.