P.E.I. oyster harvesters enjoy new campground improvements

Oyster harvesters in western P.E.I. say their season is off to a good start, thanks to a campground where they can pull intheir boats and pull offtheir waders at the end of each day.

The Hurd's Point Campground isn't new, but this year, all 60 sites are booked, and there's a waitinglist to get in.

The president of the Prince Edward IslandShellfish Association, Brenda Campbell, says that's because significant improvements have been made to Hurd's Point Road, making access to the park, and the Bedeque Bay fishing area, easier and more reliable.

Got 'er made now.- Leo Campbell, oyster buyer

"It's indescribable," she said."Ifthere was no interest, you wouldn't be full and you wouldn't have a waiting list."

The Hurd's Point Campground has been owned and operated by the shellfish association since 2005, and it's a far cry from what oysterharvesters lived with in decades past.

Leo Campbell is a buyer for Burleigh Brothers Seafood, and remembers what the area looked like back in 1981.

"They had homemade shacks, homemade trailers, some of them were lucky enough to have a bought one," he described.

Campbell saidthe Hurd's Point Campground, now complete with laundry, washrooms and hot showers, means a lot to fishermen after a long day on the water.

"They love it, it's a big step up, you've got electricity, plumbing and heating, it's great now ... even got a canteen. Got 'er made now."

Big savings

For the more than 120 fishermencamping at Hurd's Point for the season, which generally runs May 1 to July 15, the campground offers a substantial savings in both time and fuel.

Instead of goinganywhere from Tignish to Morell every evening after work, then back the next day, fishermencan haul in on the slip, and thenstay at the Hurd's Point Campground, at a rate of $460 for the entire season.

$25 of that is their annual shellfish association membership fee.

Campbell saidmaking the campground available isn't just about raising funds for the association, it's about building a sense of community among wild oyster harvesters.

"At the end of the day, you're meeting more fishermen, you're finding out what's going on, getting opinions out there, which is desperately hard, especially in our industry, because we're spread out all over the place," she explained.

The newcanteen opens from 5:30a.m. until 8p.m., serving everything from coffee to hamburgers.

Proceeds from the canteen aresplit three ways:Between the owner of the food truck, the people running it, and the shellfish association.

Campbell saidthe campgroundturns a profit, and that money goes back to the association.

Charlottetown expansion next

Next, the focus will be on setting up something similar for oyster harvesters closer to Charlottetown.

"There is a need for a trailer park down around the Charlottetown area," Campbellsaid. "We would like to see something on a much smaller scale. We're not there yet but there's still a strong committee trying to get it."

In the meantime, the association is looking for more ways to bring in revenuethrough the Hurd's Point Campground.

Campbell saidthe plan is to rent it out to others, but details on how that would work arestill being finalized.

• MORE P.E.I. NEWS|Tourism association happy with extra $21M for Province House renovations
• MORE P.E.I. NEWS|P.E.I. Senator Percy Downe pushes Ottawa to drop bridge tolls