Senate committee report makes EI recommendations

Allowing fish harvesters to qualify for Employment Insurance (EI) based on 2008 earnings and extending EI fishing benefits by five weeks are recommendations included in a report by Senate Fisheries and Oceans Committee.

Immediate changes to the Employment Insurance program must be implemented to address the problems created by low lobster prices says a report by the Standing Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans, entitled Crisis in the Lobster Fishery.

As prices paid to fishermen at the wharf have dropped to levels not seen in two decades, the committee recommends fish harvesters be allowed to qualify for EI based on 2008 earnings and EI fishing benefits be extended by five weeks. EI fishing benefits are paid to self-employed fishermen, and eligibility for benefits is based on earnings rather than on hours worked. “This would help fishermen make it to the next fishing season,” says Senator Bill Rompkey, chair of the committee. “More assistance is needed to ease the current situation in coastal communities where non-fishing job opportunities are scarce in the best of times, let alone during a recession.”

The committee urges the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans to immediately enter into formal discussions with Atlantic fish harvester organizations and the provincial governments to develop a short-term assistance plan for the fishery. “Initiatives such as federal investments in marketing, promotion and eco-labelling, while welcome and needed, are overshadowed by the more pressing problem of fishermen getting significantly less for their catches,” says Senator Ethel Cochrane, deputy chair of the committee.

The report calls for a comprehensive plan for the lobster fishery, including voluntary fleet rationalization to reduce fishing capacity where needed. The federal government should also contribute to the costs of removing lobster licences from the fishery.

Recognizing the severe difficulties facing the Atlantic lobster fishery, the committee convened a panel to discuss the matter on May 26, 2009. According to fishery organization representatives who presented, approximately 10,000 licenced owner-operators and 15,000 deck hands who fish on boats less than 45 feet in length are directly affected by the downturn in lobster markets. Additionally, 25,000 other workers are employed on shore and in processing plants throughout the four Atlantic provinces and Quebec.

To read the full report and list of recommendations, visit the committee website

www.senate-senat.ca/fopo-e.asp