As lobster fishing season begins in parts of the Maritimes, many fishermen are expressing both optimism and worry.

The season is now open in lobster fishing areas 23, 24 and 26 A and B, which cover northern New Brunswick, the north coast of Prince Edward Island and the eastern portion of the Northumberland Strait, including western Cape Breton Island.

Fishermen set their pots Saturday and will begin hauling them Monday.

While they are confident the lobsters are plentiful, they’re not certain whether they will get a fair price for their catch. If they don’t, they say their boats could remain tied up at the wharf.

In some jurisdictions, the price is as much as $8 a pound, but fishermen in Escuminac, N.B. aren’t as optimistic.

“Here they’re looking at a price of $5 and $5.50, for now anyway, that’s what they’re anticipating, so we don’t know what’s going on really,” says fisherman Serge Sippley.

“I hope we get a fair price. We need it,” says fisherman Gilbert Martin. “Everybody else seems to get a good price. I hope we do the same thing too.”

The fishermen say one issue is that they don’t know what their catch is worth until they haul it in and return to the wharf, where buyers set the price.

“Every year is the same thing. We fish a week, two weeks before we even know our price,” says Sippley. “I’m telling the buyers, would you go work somewhere for three weeks without knowing what you’re paid?”

Fishermen estimate their break-even price is about $4.50 a pound. They would like to make at least $5.50 to $6 a pound to make any money for their catch.

“It’s a business. Every year you have to build new traps, repairs to your boat. It takes money. It’s a short season,” says Martin.

Meanwhile, there are rumblings among the fisherman at the wharf in Escuminac that if they don’t get a fair price, they could refuse to fish.

“We did that a couple years ago. We boycotted,” says Sippley. “We didn’t go out for a whole week, trying to get the prices up.”

For now, the fishermen say all they can do is fish and hope for the best, as they do every year.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Jonathan MacInnis