Survey Two groups are gathering data in southwest N.B.

B7

MARY-ELLEN SAUNDERS
TELEGRAPH-JOURNAL

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ST. STEPHEN - All lobster and weir fishermen in southwest New Brunswick will have an opportunity to tell their economic situation during a survey to be conducted this month.

Maria Recchia of the Fundy North Fishermen's Association said the study will outline the impact fishermen have on the local economy.

"We really don't have good local statistics on the value of the fishery and that is our primary motivation," said Recchia. "It will give us an opportunity to go to policy makers and have this information in our back pocket."

Fishermen in the region will receive an eight-page survey in the mail next week.

Fundy North and the Fundy Weir Fishermen's Association have teamed up with researchers from the University of New Brunswick and Memorial University of St. John's, N.L., to conduct the economic study of the inshore fisheries from St. Martins to Campobello Island.

The questions will focus on employment, earnings, cost of fishing and where fishermen spend their earnings.

Recchia said other industries, such as the aquaculture and agriculture industries, conduct such surveys every few years but the fishermen have not had the opportunity until this year.

She said the fishery is a great contributor to the local economy but is often overlooked by the public and policy makers and one reason is because of the lack of data on the fisheries.

"We are not using this study for any one particular policy change, we are simply using this to give the public a better sense of the value of the fishery," she said.