Earle McCurdy, Food, Fish and Allied Workers’ union president, informed that Newfoundland and Labrador needs to have a plan in place to deal with what could be a dire fishing season in 2009. He has discussed this with provincial Fisheries Minister Tom Hedderson to let him know the difficult position the industry could face next spring.
McCurdy also opined that the main purpose of the meeting was to alert the minister to our serious concerns about the potential impact of the world economic meltdown on our fishery in 2009. A poor showing for the winter lobster fishery in Nova Scotia is a sign of possible hard times coming for the industry. It is also said that, as the world enters into a possible recession, markets for seafood could fall. He said government and industry partners need to start thinking now about what they’ll do next year.
According to McCurdy the need for harvesters finance through a fisheries loan board is essential because there is a role for government to play there in terms of making capital available. Hedderson, however, said that while there is no loan board, there is a loan guarantee program.
