Ottawa To Invest Nearly $470-Million To Help Fish Harvesters
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Thursday that the federal government will invest $469.4 million in new measures to help fish harvesters who are financially affected by Covid-19 but can’t access existing federal support programs.
Some of the funds ($267.6 million) will go towards the Fish Harvest Benefit, which will provide income support for this year’s fishing seasons to eligible self-employed fish harvesters and sharespersons, crew members who receive a share of the catch, who can’t access the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy.
The support will be available for those whose fishing income fell more than 25 percent this tax year.
“If you’re expecting a 25 percent drop in income this season, you’ll get support to cover 75 percent of your losses up to about $10,000,” Trudeau said.
The rest of the funding ($201.8-million) will go towards the Fish Harvester Grant, aimed at helping fish harvesters who don’t qualify for the Canada Emergency Business Account or similar measures.
The grant is meant to give them more liquidity to address non-deferrable business costs. The program would provide non-repayable support of up to $10,000 to self-employed fish harvesters with a valid fishing licence. Size of the non-repayable support will vary depending on the level of fish harvesters’ historic revenue.
The government is also proposing changes to the Employment Insurance program to allow self-employed fish harvesters and sharespersons to access their benefits on the basis of insurable earnings from previous seasons.
The government is also introducing additional non-repayable grants of up to $10,000 for fish harvesters who own their own business and need support to bridge to better times, and for workers who are worried about next year.
This investment is in addition to the $62.5-million Canadian Seafood Stabilization Fund announced in April for the fish and seafood processing sector.
Trudeau said help is needed for workers in the fisheries sector during this tough time.
“You can’t harvest lobster from inside your house. So that leaves you trying to figure out how to either space people out on a fishing boat or cancel your operations. It’s not an easy call to make,” he said. “On top of that, prices and demand have gone down, putting financial pressure on fishers and their families. Taken together, this adds up to a really tough time.”
In addition, Trudeau announced the government will launch a $100-million Agriculture and Food Business Solutions Fund through Farm Credit Canada.
He calls on Canadians to buy local to show their support to farmers and fishers.
“Pick up some Canadian cheese to help out a local dairy farmer, have a fish fry or buy Canadian lobster. Not only will it taste great, but it’ll help the people who keep putting food on our plates,” he said.