Good news for the fishing industry in New Brunswick as harbours get 74.3 million dollars of funding for repairs and upgrades.
Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Gail Shea and local MP Robert Goguen announced the investment today, saying over the next two years the funds will go towards improving safety and working conditions for fishermen across the province.
So far, details of at least 11 harbour projects have been released with more expected in the coming weeks.
The projects range from replacing wharves, to regular maintenance and dredging – with Richibucto Harbour getting a barricaded breakwater wharf.
That harbour is home to 90 vessels, and about 225 fish harvesters use its facilities.
The primary fisheries at Richibucto Harbour are lobster and rock crab, with landings in 2013 bringing in an estimated value of 3.6 million dollars.
Minister Shea said the investment is vital because 90 percent of all commercial fish harvesters in Canada use small craft harbour facilities with an annual production of more than 1.6 billion dollars.
Other details at this time are as follows with more than $7.5 million of this total investment supporting the following harbour projects:
- Botsford – replacement of a deteriorated wharf
- Cap-des-Caissie – upgrades to electrical system
- Cape Tormentine – replacement of a deteriorated wharf
- Cap-Lumière (Richibucto Cape) – repairs to wharf and channel maintenance dredging
- Petit-Cap – replacement of a deteriorated wharf
- Richibucto – replacement of a barricaded breakwater wharf
- Barre-de-Cocagne – repairs to a deteriorated wharf
- Cap-de-Saint-Louis – regular maintenance dredging
- Chockpish – regular maintenance dredging
- Cap-Pelé (Les Aboiteaux) – regular maintenance dredging
- Saint-Édouard-de-Kent – regular maintenance dredging of the harbour basin and channel