Minister says many fishers, industry groups did not qualify

calculated at the end of the season and appropriate adjustments made.

The Fish Harvester Grant, worth up to $201.8 million, will provide non-repayable support of up to $10,000 to self-employed fish harvesters with a valid fishing licence and who have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and are ineligible for the Canada Emergency Business Account or equivalent measures.

The aim of this measure, the government says, is to give harvesters more liquidity to address non-deferrable business costs.

The government also says it will introduce changes to Employment Insurance that would allow self-employed fish harvesters and crew members to access EI benefits on the basis of insurable earnings from previous years (winter and summer claims).

This is in addition to a $62 million aid package that was rolled out in April for fish processing companies across Canada to cover the costs of equipment and supplies for their plants to ensure a safe working environment for people on the processing lines.

Speaking with SaltWire, fisheries minister Bernadette Jordan said her department heard from many fishers and industry groups who did not qualify for the many relief programs already announced by the federal government because of the way they’re structured.

Groups such as The Maritime Fishermen’s Union (MFU) and the Fish Food and Allied Workers (FFAW) have been lobbying the federal government in recent weeks to either make adjustments to the existing aid programs or introduce new ones addressing some of these concerns aimed specifically at the fishery.

“Fisheries are unique ... sometimes they’re intergenerational, they’re paid based on a share of their catch as opposed to a wage — there are all different ways that they’re set up that make it very difficult to be able to collect the benefits we put forward,” Jordan said.

“We wanted to make sure we addressed those concerns because it wasn’t just one or two people that were falling through the cracks, it was the whole sector. And we’re not going to leave a whole sector behind.”

As for when these benefits will be available, Jordan said her department is working as hard as they can to get money out the door as quickly as possible and confirmed legislation will not be required for the wage subsidy or the grant portion of Thursday’s announcement.

She said additional details on eligibility, timeline and the application process will be available soon.

“We wanted to make sure we addressed those concerns because it wasn’t just one or two people that were falling through the cracks, it was the whole sector. And we’re not going to leave a whole sector behind.” Bernadette Jordan