Coast Guard icebreaker frees snow crab boats stuck in ice off Chticamp

A Coast Guard icebreaker helped free a couple of dozen snow crab fishing boats that were having difficultygetting throughice in Chticamp Harbour on Thursday morning.

Angus Lefort, the manager of the Harbour Authority of Chticamp, said about 25 to 30 vessels needed assistance getting through astrip of ice that's about one kilometre wide.

"There wasn't any ice at all, all winter, but all of a sudden there's coastal ice. So the boats are having a hard time getting out of the harbour and going out to the fishing grounds," Lefort said.

The snow crab fishery opened on Tuesday morning, and the icebreaker was on hand Wednesday just in case boats got into trouble.

"They're not really stuck, but I mean, they're going so slow and the current is pushing them back and everything. So they're not going very fast and I'm sure they want to get to their crab traps as soon as they can," Lefort said.

"It's hard on the boat and they'reFiberglas boats, sogoing through the ice they can't go very fast and they're very worried that they damage the boat."

Until Thursday, the boats were able to make it through. But the ice moved right into the harbour overnight, making passage difficult, especially for smaller boats, Lefort said.

"As soon as they make a path, there's a lineup of four or five boatstrying to follow them," he said. "I can see the blue behind it. So once the boats can go through that ice they'rescot-free to go tothe fishing grounds."