Fish harvesters have to wait for aid package
It’s been two months since the federal government rolled out a $62.5-million aid package to support seafood processors affected by the COVID19 pandemic, and a month since the announcement of a $469-million program to aid fish harvesters.
So far no one has seen a cent of funding from either package.
Today, seafood processing companies are a little closer.
Bernadette Jordan, minister of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, announced details of how the $62.5 million from the Canadian Seafood Stabilization Fund (CSSF) will be divvied up across Canada, and how to apply.
Of the $62.5 million, Atlantic Canada gets the lion’s share — $38.1 million.
The funding will be administered by the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) and is to be used to cover some of the extra costs incurred to operate safely during the COVID-19 pandemic.
ACOA will begin accepting applications on June 22 and funding will be approved on a “first-come, first-served” basis, until the money runs out, according to a news release from DFO.
More details on how to apply are on the ACOA website at https://www.canada.ca/en/atlantic-canada-opportunities.html.
Seafood processors have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to ramp up health and safety during the pandemic, installing Plexiglas barriers on the processing lines and providing personal protective equipment to workers.
Allan Maclean of Louisbourg Seafoods in Nova Scotia told Saltwire Network in an interview in May the company had spent well over $100,000 on personal protective equipment.
“We’re burning through about 1,000 masks a day,” he said.
Martin Sullivan of Ocean Choice International (OCI) in Newfoundland and Labrador told Saltwire he wasn’t sure exactly how much money the company had spent because of COVID-19, but it was probably in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The company had to take precautions on its four offshore vessels, as well.
“I don’t know what the final numbers are yet regarding COVID cost, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it went over $1 million,” he said. “It’s a big number, but we just have to deal with it.”
Seafood processors in Quebec and Western Canada will also get a share of CSSF.
About $9 million has been allotted for the Quebec region, to be administered by the Canada Economic Development program.
Western Canada will get just over $9 million, administered by the Western Economic Diversification Canada Agency.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) will retain $6.2 million of the CSSF.
The minister said this money will be used to “respond to emergency industry pressures related to COVID19, including, for example, additional funding in regions where there is a high demand for support.”
As for fish harvesters, there are still no details on how the $469 million will be delivered to help those who lost income due to COVID-19.
Jordan could not say when the details of that program will be announced.
“The challenge is this is a brand new program, it’s not just a matter of writing a cheque. So we are working right now to work out the details, to make sure the money is there for them.”