A meeting has been called by FFAW/CAW to discuss lobster assistance program problems with federal cabinet representative Peter MacKay and Fisheries Minister Gail Shea. The program was announced by the federal government earlier this year. FFAW President Earle McCurdy said that they have written to both Ministers MacKay and Shea asking for this critical meeting, and we will be looking for a response to our request in very short order.
He also said that the $65 million lobster assistance program announced this past summer has created some serious stumbling blocks problems for harvesters attempting to avail of the funding contained in the program. It is informed that to attain the aid the harvesters need to have lobster as 50 percent or more of their fishing income, and they had to have lost 25 percent or more in income this year compared to 2008. The program, which has no sliding scale, also requires harvesters have a minimum fishing income of $2,500 in 2009 and a maximum income of $50,000.
The criteria was so tough that many lobster harvesters in this province were denied access to $5,0000 in much-needed assistance because they missed an arbitrary income threshold by a very small margin. McCurdy said the greatest impact of the requirement for 50 percent dependence on lobster has been on the west coast and Northern Peninsula in Lobster Fishing Area 14.
