Amount of aid given to lobster fishermen slammed
Published Friday November 20th, 2009
Fisheries: Industry rep, MPs critical as feds say one-third of applications approved
OTTAWA - Proof is emerging that the federal fisheries department will never spend half of the $15 million it announced in June to help hard-pressed lobster fishermen, an industry representative and opposition critics say.
Fewer than one third of eastern Canada's 10,000 licensed lobster fishermen have applied so far for the short-term aid Fisheries Minister Gail Shea unveiled June 10.
And of the third who applied, about one-third have received cheques.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans says that as of Nov. 8, 987 applications had been approved for a total of $4.8 million.
That's slightly more than one-third of the 2,724 fishermen who have applied.
Industry and opposition critics say the numbers prove that their criticisms of the program were on the mark.
"We had predicted most harvesters would not be eligible," says Christian Brun, executive director of the Maritime Fishermen's Union.
"We fear these numbers we're seeing show we were right."
Brun says the MFU had doubted last spring that more than half of the $15 million would be spent.
Shea argues it's too early to draw sweeping conclusions.
"I don't believe their predictions are coming true at all," she says. "We have a third of the money going out and the deadline for applications isn't until January.
"We're only a month-and-a-half or so into the program."
To be eligible, a fisherman must have fished lobster in 2008, then have their income from lobster fishing drop by 25 per cent or more in 2009.
The aid is capped at a maximum of $5,000 per licensed lobster fishermen; crew members are not eligible.
Shea would not offer a prediction of how much of the $15 million would go to fishermen, but she says she was confident the money is well-targeted.
"I feel quite comfortable that this is going to the people who need that assistance," she says. "It's not going to people who landed $100,000 worth of lobster, because we didn't think that was fair. It's going to those who are low-income and have taken the biggest hit."
Shea says some fishermen are being rejected.
The department could not provide a figure or say what percentage of applicants were denied.
Liberal fisheries critic Gerry Byrne, a Newfoundland MP, says "the number that have been rejected is huge and they don't want to release it.
"It's a lie - and I'll repeat it again - it's a lie that they don't have that information."
Byrne says his tracking of constituents shows that they're qualifying for $1,200 on average "and it's all taxable."
"But the easiest cheque for the government to write for this program was the one they knew would never be cashed," he says.
"That's the $15 million they set aside to help a $1-billion industry with 10,000 lobster licence holders spread over five eastern Canadian provinces.
"The eligibility criteria are so ridiculous and stringent, that I doubt we're going to get much more than 1,500 or 2,000 successful applicants."
Shea pointed out the $15 million was part of a larger $65-million package, with the other $50 million going toward marketing and other measures to create long-term sustainability in for the industry.
"The bigger part of this picture is what this will do for the entire industry going forward," she says.
NDP fisheries critic Peter Stoffer likened the situation to the compensation program for the spraying of Agent Orange at CFB Gagetown.
In both cases, "they put out a big figure" when announcing the compensation package, "but now we're seeing only half the money roll out," because of strict eligibility criteria.
"We're not at all surprised by this but we are disappointed."
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