Capt. William [Billy] Harris was born in East Lake, P.E.I.

Billy first began his fishing career at age 18, when his neighbor Bernie Cheverie, asked him to go out fishing with him. He fished as a helper for three years, from 1958 to 1961, with Bernie.

He started on his own in 1963. It was not something he wanted to do and he didn’t know much about it at first. But after a while he got to like it.

Billy lobster fishes. He uses wire over wood traps. At first they were small three bow traps. These were 36 to 38 inch traps then he switched to 44 to 45 inch traps. Today he uses 48 inch traps. The boats are bigger with bigger engines, now there is a hydraulic power for trap haulers and more modern electronics. Today boats are made of fiber-glass compared to back then when they were made of wood. If Billy’s traps were damaged, he would fix his own. He would also fix his engine if it was a small problem. If it is a big problem he would get a mechanic.

Billy fished out of North Lake. On the first day of May lobster fishing starts and then ends on the last day in June. He is allowed up to 300 traps in the water now, but when he started there was no limit which Billy thought was good. He builds his own traps. He has a certain area to set them in. This is called the gentlemen’s agreement, because there is no law to say he can’t set someplace else. He just sets there every year because all the fishermen have agreed to keep the same fishing grounds from year to year. He gets his rope ready and paints his bouys in the off season.

When Billy started fishing he fished east of the harbour towards East Point. For gear he used a hydraulic trap hauler and a boom to lift the dog trawl up into the boat. The dog trawl is a rope with six or seven traps on it. Billy used seven. For bait, Billy used herring. He changed to mackerel once in a while. He buys his bait from buyers in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

Billy has had numerous helpers. Right now his son Kurt fishes with him.

The price of lobster has changed over the years. When Billy started it was .47 cents a pound. Now the price ranges from five to six dollars a pound. The average catch is around four to five hundred pounds a day. You can get anywhere from 2500 dollars to 3600 dollars a day.

Billy also fishes tuna. Tuna fishing starts in July and ends in October. The gear Billy uses for tuna fishing is a rod and reel, 130 pound test line a chair, boat and bait. Billy has a license for tuna fishing and he has noticed the price has changed dramatically. At first he received from 12 to 15 dollars a fish. His first fish was sold in Georgetown. Now he is getting 15 to 20 dollars a pound for a fish which are sold to buyers right at the harbour and then these fish are shipped to Japan. In the 80's the tuna dropped off for six or seven years. So he went to Nova Scotia and to the "Hell Hole" which was an area 100 miles from land and 5000 feet deep. The biggest tuna he ever caught was 1351 pounds when he was fishing with Jimmy MacDonald from North Lake. They caught it over in Cape Breton. He uses herring for bait now but back then he used mackerel.

Billy can catch as many as he wants until the quota is full as long as you have the tags. Today the average catch depends on how lucky you are.

If he didn’t become a fisherman he said he would have been a miner in the nickel mines.

In conclusion, Billy enjoys the water very much and has done well as a fisherman.

By Andrew and Tyler MacDonald.