| Posted: Dec. 6, 2022, 3:48 p.m. | Updated: Dec. 7, 2022, 7:28 a.m. | 9 Min Read
The Victoria Fisheries Co-op in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, suffered wind and wave damage from post-tropical storm Fiona on Sept. 24, 2022. - Facebook photo “I’ve got 28 files on my desk here in a pile from different equipment suppliers,” said Burke, adding they’re already had to pay deposits of up to $80,000 or $100,000 to get equipment ordered.That’s where an understanding bank has helped, he added.
He recalls how ACOA minister Jeanette Pettipas Taylor said back in October the money would flow quickly.“The whole purpose of this Fiona recovery fund was to get businesses back up and operational as quickly as possible. And they’ve severely failed on that,” he said. “If we had to wait for money from a government program before doing repairs, we’d never be operational by April 1.”
While Burke has a long checklist of things to do to get the plant ship-shape for April and strong enough to weather any future storms, the federal government has a lot to do to help the fishing industry prepare for more storms of similar strength in the future. “A lot of our harbour infrastructures have a lifespan of 40 years, and some of those were 70 years old,” he said.
“So, there’s a lot of challenges with small craft harbours right now and a serious lack of funding,” said Burke, adding there are 300 or more seafood buying or processing facilities like his, located at the waterfront at Small Craft Harbours properties around the Maritimes and Gulf region.“Nova Scotia, as an example, exported $2.5 billion worth of seafood last year, contributing significant dollars to the economy. And it needs significant investment,” said Burke.
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