I am here to talk about our concerns about the delay in our lobster fishery to May 15th.
We the fishers of Lobster Area 24 voted in favor of going fishing on May 6. This was a legal vote; we cannot understand how a federal minister of fisheries can open areas in her own riding and province but close fishing zones in other provinces for no reason.
Years ago, when we had issues with delays, there were votes held when fishers wanted to go. Those votes were respected by the minister of fisheries at that time.
Some processing plants have stated that the lobster season should be delayed due to the fact that there was a concern over the health of workers because of COVID-19, but now they can process other seafood without any concern? What is the difference between processing other species and the health of workers, why isn’t there any concerns there? Here on P.E.I., we only have had 26 cases of COVID-19 and that hasn’t changed in more than a week. There are a high percentage of fishers in area 24 that are trying to make a living on their own without government help. By fishing on the sixth of May instead of the 15th, this increases tax dollars for provincial and federal governments to help with the COVID-19 pandemic.
We would like to thank both levels of government for helping those that need help, but are frustrated that the minister closed our fishery after stating that each area, harvesters would make their own decision.
We would ask the minister to explain how she can open her own province, but close others.
I would like ask the Canadian people if they think this is a fair decision by our Minister of Fisheries please contact Bernadette Jordan at [email protected] and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at [email protected] to show your support for the fishers of P.E.I.
Kenneth LeClair fishes lobster in LFA 24.