An FFAW resolution calling for the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) to rebate 2009 licence fees and to cover this year’s dockside monitoring, at-sea observer and wharfage costs has received unanimous support from the member organizations of the Canadian Council of Professional Fish Harvesters.
The resolution was tabled today during the triennial meetings of the CCPFH in St. John’s. It calls for the CCPFH to make “joint representation” to DFO on the matter.
“Rebating harvester licence fees and taking care of the costs associated with dockside monitoring, at-sea observers and wharfage would effectively reduce some of the heavy cost burden being felt by fish harvesters during this very challenging year,” said FFAW President Earle McCurdy.
The resolution also calls for the CCPFH to “co-ordinate the efforts of member organizations to achieve appropriate government measures to help the fishery cope with the negative fallout from the recession.”
“The global economic crisis and resulting market collapses have dramatically impacted the livelihoods of fish harvesters right across the country,” McCurdy noted. “The reduced demand and falling prices for seafood products have prompted governments the world over to launch stimulus programs to help offset the effects of the situation and we should expect no different from our own federal government.
“The federal government has pumped significant dollars into a variety of hurting sectors in recent months and it is now time they turned their attention to the Canadian fishery and the thousands of crucial jobs the industry provides for coastal communities.”
