MFU responds to minister’s announcement on lobster industry

The Maritime Fishermen’s Union (MFU) says the June 10 announcement made by Fisheries Minister Gail Shea on the lobster fishery was initially received with relief by the lobster harvesters of the Maritimes Fishermen’s Union on the East Coast of New Brunswick and in Nova Scotia.

But the MFU says a closer look into the details of the lobster program has left fish harvesters hungry for more.

It says details have revealed a minimal investment program with a poor chance of having a real impact, either for the immediate crisis or to engage in the much needed rationalization required by fishers for more than five years. The MFU feels this was another great opportunity lost by governments to inject a renewed life in one of the crucial industries of Atlantic Canada and Quebec.

The Harper government program for lobster proposes three different elements: $15 million for fish harvesters that have undergone serious hardship in the outset of the 2009 lobster crisis; $15 million for fish harvesters that are in serious economic difficulties in order to implement means to better achieve sustainability of the species; and $35 million for the whole Atlantic lobster industry for actions that would aim to achieve economic viability and species sustainability by means of rationalization or by self-rationalization.

The MFU says Shea’s announcement leaves many questions unanswered and are open to many different interpretations, especially in the area of criteria for access to funding for each component. “Such an important announcement is always followed by some controversy, but the program proposed by Minister Shea is rather confusing,” says Christian Brun, executive secretary for the MFU. “We therefore require that the department organizes an urgent meeting with the industry to explain the details and to answer questions so that lobster fish harvesters then will know what to expect in light of this crisis.”

MFU harvesters have decided to temporarily suspend any demonstration activities until they have received pertinent information related to the program. The MFU leadership will then meet to determine what further steps will take place, if other actions are deemed necessary. “Don’t think for one minute that the MFU will be satisfied with a minimum in the circumstances…the amounts that have been included in this program are simply insufficient to achieve what is necessary for this industry,” says André Martin, president of the MFU. “The tobacco industry merited some $275 million without much of a fuss to renew their industry. Our fish harvesters are in a state of panic and do not have the capacity to address some fundamental changes happening in their industry in a not too distant future. The government has just walked by another golden opportunity to make a real difference. Very disappointing to say the least.”