Acadian communities mourn after two N.B. lobster fishers die on first day of season

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This article was published 07/05/2023 (1245 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

LAMÈQUE, N.B. – Residents of the Acadian peninsula in New Brunswick are mourning the loss of two lobster boat crew who died on the first day of the season.

The RCMP have said the two men were from Lamèque, N.B., a community off the northeastern tip of the peninsula. They died Saturday after falling from a fishing boat.

Tania Benoit, whose father, boyfriend and brother are lobster fishers, said she didn’t know the men, but their deaths are a reminder of the dangers in the industry.

“It could be us, right?” she said in a telephone interview Sunday from her home in Tilley Road, N.B.

She said fishing families are acutely aware that the first and last days of the season are the most dangerous, as lobster traps are stacked high on the boats, reducing stability and creating greater risks of being struck by falling objects.

Benoit said when there’s a death at sea, the news courses through the coastal communities “and touches many people, not just the fishermen.”

“Even if fishing is fun and full of freedom, it’s so dangerous,” she said.

Mounties did not release the names of the men who died, but said one was 58 years old and the other was 33.

A search-and-rescue operation began at 9 a.m. Saturday for the two men after it was reported they went overboard about seven kilometres off the coast of Lamèque, RCMP have said.

The older man was found dead shortly after police arrived and the body of the younger man was located after a short search.

Serge Cormier, the MP for Acadie-Bathurst, said on his Facebook page that his thoughts and prayers are with the “families, friends and entire Miscou community experiencing difficult times following a fishing boat incident early Saturday.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 7, 2023.