Ideal weather for Eastern Shore lobster fishery to start Thursday

Lobster traps are pictured on the Aboiteau Wharf in Cap-Acadie, N.B. (CTV Atlantic / Derek Haggett)

Zones 31b and 32 in Nova Scotia’s Eastern Shore lobster fisher will begin and end 10 days earlier this year, according to Geoff Irvine, executive director of the Lobster Council of Canada.

As a pilot project, those zones will now be running from Thursday to June 10.

The weather is ideal for heading out to set traps for those zones. A strong area of high pressure will be centred almost directly over the Eastern Shore marine district on Thursday.

The high pressure will keep the sky clear, the wind relatively weak, and the wave action relatively low.

A light southerly wind Thursday morning is forecast to increase to 10 to 15 knots by Thursday evening. This will bring wave heights of one metre or less.

Similar weather conditions are expected Friday before a weather front brings a stronger wind veering southwest 20 to 25 knots to northwest 25 knots on Saturday. The front will be accompanied by increasing cloudiness, light rain, and patchy fog.

On land, areas of the Maritimes will benefit from the high-pressure system through the end of the week as well.

Both Thursday and Friday will be mostly sunny. While the mornings will still be brisk, afternoon high temperatures on both days could reach the low-to-mid teens except slightly cooler for coastal areas where the southerly wind is onshore.

A cold front arriving Friday night in New Brunswick will bring rain and showers to the province. The front and associated rain will then cross P.E.I. and Nova Scotia on Saturday.

Daytime temperatures coming down into the mid-to-high single digits Saturday.