Aquarium and Marine Center in Shippigan, NB

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Caraquet to Mirimichi, NB

It was raining as we woke up this morning so that made leaving the cottage easier. We drove from there to Shippigan. They have a great little Aquarium in Shippigan so we visited that. The boys really liked the mock up of the inside of a boat wheel house. It was really cold and windy, but the touch pool was outside so we braved the weather to visit that and the seals. In the touch pool they had a blue lobster. At the last Aquarium they had told us that the blue lobsters (and other non black lobsters) are created from a pigment defect, and there are only about 1 in every 3 million lobsters, making them very rare. This guy was a beautiful shade of blue. They also had a spotted one. Inside there were several tanks of fish and other sea life from the area. The giant sturgeon fish that look like prehistoric sharks always impress me.

Shippigan is a main crab fishing area. The large crab boats were all in dry dock already so Claude figured that they must have had a very good season. These boats are significantly larger than the lobster boats since they need to go out into the high seas. They sometimes use the same boats, or at least a very similar one for Herring fishing. Claude thought that the herring fishing season wouldn’t have started yet. As opposed to much of the fishing industry, crab fishing is very lucrative. Claude pointed out the giant homes of the crab fishermen. For only a couple months of work they bring in a huge amount of money and have the mansions to show for it.

After Shippigan we headed down the coast to Tracadie. When Claude worked in New Brunswick in the peat industry he lived in Tracadie and worked in the Shippigan – Tracadie area. It was interesting for him to re-visit his old stomping grounds. Tracadie had changed significantly in the 15 years since he left, but he did manage to find his old house.

Our friends have a cabin on the Miramichi River that they let us borrow, so we are here for 2 nights. It is a great cabin right on the river. Despite the rain we have been watching salmon fly fishermen in the river right in front of us. Paul is anxious to try fishing tomorrow.

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Photos

Crab and Herring boats in dry dock
Shippigan, NB

The 4 person survival pod developed in NB for deep sea fishing boats
Not comfy but unsinkable.