Published Jun 10, 2025 • Last updated 7 hours ago • 4 minute readPeople sort debris retrieved from the Baccaro shoreline during the June 7 weekend. The two-day clean-up was organized by Scotian Shores. KATHY JOHNSONScotian Shores Ocean Warriors were out in full force on the June 7 weekend for a two-day shoreline cleanup at Baccaro Point in Shelburne County.“Lots of volunteers came out,” says Scotian Shores founder Angela Riley. “Local fishers, Irish mossers. I love the guys from Cape Island and Pubnico. They come out with their ATVs and side-by-sides when we do trap retrieval. We actually even had a fishery officer from DFO boots on the ground as well. Even the pot trailers, provided by Sable Fish Packers and Long Point Lobster. It was a really good weekend. It is one great big team effort here.”THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY.Subscribe now to access this story and more:Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsSUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES.Subscribe or sign in to your account to continue your reading experience.Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsRegister to unlock more articles.Create an account or sign in to continue your reading experience.Access additional stories every monthShare your thoughts and join the conversation in our commenting communityGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorArticle contentThis year’s shoreline clean-up at the most southerly point of mainland Nova Scotia netted the Ocean Warriors some 400 beaten and battered lobster traps, bringing the total to 1,000 traps removed from just the Baccaro shoreline. Angela Riley, founder of Scotian Shores sorts through some of the smaller pieces of debris gathered from the Baccaro shoreline during the June 7 weekend. This year’s shoreline clean-up netted Scotian Shores Ocean Warriors some 400 beaten and battered lobster traps. KATHY JOHNSON“We’ve been doing this for about three years now. This is our third big one,” Riley shared, as she sorted through ocean debris collected. “We tend to come back once a year to do a little clean up and we’ve gotten almost the whole way from the lighthouse down to the road in West Baccaro about 1 to 2 kilometres. We actually hit 1,000 traps removed over the last three years.”Some of the lobster pots retrieved during clean-ups still have the lobster trap tag attached.“We have found lobster traps at Baccaro Point from 1983 and we know that because of the tag and there’s some new ones too and that’s why we do this every year,” says Riley. “There’s always going to be losses by mistake. These are rough waters down in Lobster Fishing Area 34 and you’re bound to lose a couple traps. The fishers that are here this weekend, they want to make up for the ones they lost.”Article content The lobster trap tally is updated during the June 7 weekend Baccaro shoreline clean-up organized by Scotian Shores. KATHY JOHNSONSince starting Scotian Shores in 2020, Riley estimates with the help of countless volunteers from around the province they have removed about 1.5 million pounds of debris, land and sea. “We started doing the land because that ends up in the ocean anyway,” she says.As of June 6, Scotian Shores Ocean Warriors had reported 636 cleanups netting 116,883 pounds of waste including 620 tires removed so far this year.This summer, Riley plans to do some shoreline clean-up work in the Chebogue area of Yarmouth County, is looking really hard at McNutts Island in Shelburne Harbour, and is going back up on Digby Neck to Long Island again. An old wooden lobster trap retrieved during the June 7 weekend Baccaro shoreline clean-up is carried to a waiting pile of debris. KATHY JOHNSON“We focus on the Bay of Fundy, Southwest Nova, Digby Neck. We’re starting to move up south Nova a little bit more. The reason why we focus on those areas is that’s where the concentration of debris is due to the currents, tides and on-water activities,” says Riley. “So, the Bay of Fundy, world’s highest tides, world’s biggest vacuum cleaner.”Article contentRiley says Scotian Shores works with anyone and everyone that’s out there trying to do a good job on the shorelines.“We work off very little funding and volunteerism so if we see another group might have gotten some funding and they’ve got money for boats then we will jump aboard. We like to island hop. A lot of the people who work with Scotian Shores, we’re in it for the adventure and the experience and to actually be out there doing something good. Anyone that wants help we help. There’s even a little cool kids’ group that we’re helping now up in Annapolis County who want to organize cleanups so we’ve been sending our team leads to them.”The Cool Kids Coastal Clean Team was started by six-year-old Ragnar Hartman. The group has its second shoreline scheduled for July 5 at the Margaretsville Lighthouse Beach in Annapolis County.“He was inspired to start the Cool Kids Coastal Clean Team because he saw all the garbage on the shoreline, got sad, and needed help to save the animals,” says Ragnar’s mom Jenny. “He felt good after the first beach clean. It was very successful. We cleaned up 144 pounds of garbage and had 25 people come out in the rain.”Article contentRagnar says he was happy with the turnout. “Next time I want doctors (animal rescue) to come to help save any animals that could be trapped in the garbage.” Battered and beaten lobster traps are loaded onto a pot trailer during the June 7 weekend Baccaro shoreline clean-up organized by Scotian Shores. KATHY JOHNSONRiley says Scotian Shores got about $50,000 in funding this year from DFO’s Oceans Management Contribution program “which we’re going to make go real far.”On June 6, the provincial Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture announced funding is available once again through the Marine Debris Clean-up Program for shoreline cleanups, debris recycling, and litter prevention.Funding is available for:• shoreline cleanups: up to a maximum of $2,000 per event; applications will be accepted until Feb. 1, 2026, or until all available funds are allocated• litter prevention projects: up to 50 per cent of eligible costs, to a maximum of $3,000 per project; applications are open until June 30, as part of a competitive selection processArticle content• marine debris recycling: up to 50 per cent of eligible costs, to a maximum of $5,000 per project; applications are open until June 30, as part of a competitive selection process.“I’m hoping we see some smaller community-based groups that are really going to be able to take advantage of that money,” says Riley. “For us, we’re open to maybe doing some smaller jobs with it.”Scotian Shores is a member of the Fishing Gear Coalition of Atlantic Canada (FGCAC), a non-profit organization that brings coastal communities together to develop sustainable solutions for marine waste challenges, with a focus on implementing recycling for end-of-life fishing and aquaculture gear.Article content
One great big team effort: Coastal cleanup at Baccaro Point nets 400 lobster traps
