Published by Welcome P.E.I. Locals Blog
June 04, 2015
It’s still dark when Captain Lori Clark picks me up in her white half-ton truck — just after 4:30 am. The first time I met Lori, it was behind a gorgeous blush and eyeliner job and a glass of white wine. Today, she’s in her rubbers, and she tells me I’d better be in mine, too.
We are heading to Malpeque Harbour, or around here, better known as “The Cove,” and towards Lori’s lobster boat, the Southern Lady. Although people have been fishing out of Malpeque for more than fifty years, Captain Lori’s only been out here about six, but three more before that when she worked on her husband’s boat, Captain Ewan Clark’s Pura Vida. She is among about 1,300 other fishers who hold lobster licenses on PEI this year. The fisheries are an integral part of Island culture and economy, especially to many in the Island’s smallest, most rural communities.
Lori’s brought me some coveralls but thankfully it’s not too cold of a morning and my layers of fleece and tuque will do. I greet her two hired hands, Jason Cooke and Brittan Turner. Jason says he’s been fishing as long as he remembers, and when he counts back from his age of 38, he says about twenty years. Young Brittan on the other hand, smiles shyly at my questions, nineteen years old and his first season out on the boat…
Check out the rest of my adventure here at the Welcome PEI blog :)
