PEISome mussel fishers around Malpeque Bay are raising safety concerns after Fisheries and Oceans Canada confirmed Malpeque Harbour won’t be dredged this fall because of a new landing site for fishers to offload their catch.’It’s just not gonna cut it for the fishermen,’ says lobster fisherNancy Russell · CBC News · Posted: Sep 24, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 6 hours agoThe new landing site at Keirs Shore is expected to be in use by the end of September. (Aaron Adetuyi/CBC)Some mussel fishers around Malpeque Bay are raising safety concerns after Fisheries and Oceans Canada confirmed Malpeque Harbour won’t be dredged this fall because of a new landing site for fishers to offload their catch.The new landing site at Keirs Shore gives mussel fishers a place to offload their product without having to go in and out of Malpeque Harbour while their boats are heavy after harvesting. It saves time and it’s also supposed to be safer for the 25 or so mussel boats that work there, after years of boats running aground and capsizing in the narrow, twisting channel leading in and out of the harbour.This fishing boat ran aground in Malpeque Harbour in 2024, despite frequent dredging of the channel. (Steve Bruce/CBC)The executive director of the P.E.I. Aquaculture Alliance, Peter Warris, said the new landing site will address a number of safety concerns for boats going in and around the harbour.”We’ve had boats capsize, we’ve had to have product dumped over the side, we’ve had boats sink over the years — so I think everyone is aware it’s a challenging navigational corridor, especially with the boats heavily laden from harvesting,” he said.”So the new landing site is going to alleviate a lot of those concerns in terms of allowing the product to be moved before those boats have to go through the channel.”P.E.I. Aquaculture Alliance executive director Peter Warris says there needs to be a long-term solution to the issues in the Malpeque channel. (CBC)But Warris said the channel at the Malpeque Harbour wharf still poses a challenge.”The boats still need to be able to get in and out of the harbour safely, and there’s lots of other boats that are using that channel as well,” he said. “Safe navigation is a cornerstone of the small craft harbours.”No plans for fall dredgingIn a statement to CBC News, Fisheries and Oceans Canada confirmed Malpeque Harbour won’t be dredged this fall because of the new landing site. “[The new landing site] provides a site for aquaculture harvesters to safely offload mussels harvested out of Malpeque Harbour,” the statement reads. “There are no current plans to carry out fall dredging at Malpeque Harbour.”A P.E.I. government spokesperson referred questions about dredging to Fisheries and Oceans Canada. WATCH | New mussel landing site opening amidst ongoing concerns around Malpeque channel New mussel landing site opening amidst ongoing concerns around Malpeque channel The new landing site at Keirs Shore has been built after years of boats running aground and capsizing going in and out of Malpeque Harbour. But there are concerns after DFO decided not to dredge the channel at Malpeque this fall, which mussel boats will still be using to go in and out of the harbour. CBC’s Nancy Russell reports.Lobster fisherman Timothy Wall, who is also a member of the harbour authority, said fishers still need to use the Malpeque channel daily.”Right now, the passage in the harbour is not good and it’s getting worse,” he said. “Typically, we dredge it in the spring and we dredge it in the fall, and we probably been doing that for the last eight or 10 years.”It’s just not gonna cut it for the fishermen.”A long-term solutionThe provincial government is spending $4.55 million on the new landing site, with the federal government contributing $3.25 million and the industry putting forward another $250,000. An additional $700,000 in provincial funding will pay for upgrades to the road leading up to the landing site.Warris said it’s a good start — but something more needs to be done.Lobster fisherman Timothy Wall, who is also a member of the harbour authority, said the channel still needs to be dredged. (CBC)”There does need to be some further investment in a longer-term solution if we continue to see that channel filling in and shifting each year,” he said.Wall said fishers simply can’t rely on the channel in the condition that it’s in. “I’ve run aground myself getting in and out of the harbour,” he said.”It’s a pretty sick feeling when you don’t know if you’re gonna be able to get in your harbour with load on or not. Or sitting there, you know, dozen boats waiting to see if somebody is going to be able to get off ground, or if they’re going to sink. It’s hard on the head.”ABOUT THE AUTHORNancy Russell is a reporter at CBC Prince Edward Island. She has also worked as a reporter and producer with CBC in Whitehorse, Winnipeg, and Toronto. She can be reached at Nancy.Russell@cbc.ca
New mussel landing site opening amidst ongoing concerns around Malpeque channel
