Fishers in N.W.T. to get up to $10K for protective gear, government says
Funding will be available to individual fishers working on Great Slave Lake, Tathlina Lake or Kakisa Lake
Fishers will be able to equip their fishing vessels with protective equipment thanks to a new government fund.
Up to $10,000 will be made available to individual fishers working on the Great Slave Lake, Tathlina Lake or Kakisa Lake, according to a Northwest Territories government news release on Wednesday.
The funding maximum amount is based on 2019 productions and will be made available under the Commercial Fisheries Industry Safety Support Program. The news release says the equipment is needed to meet both COVID-19 protective measures and Transport Canada's Fishing Vessel Safety Regulations.
The equipment each vessel must carry is based on the length of its hull and is indicated in the new Transport Canada Regulations, the release says.
The equipment includes personal life-saving appliances and visual signals, life-rafts and other life-saving appliances and firefighting equipment.
In a written statement, Katrina Nokleby, minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment said the Northwest Territories' Commercial Fishery is integral to the territorial economy and to "addressing food security."
"The Commercial Fisheries Industry Safety Support Program will ensure that the health and safety equipment required by fishers and their employees is affordable and readily available on all small commercial fishing vessels operating in the North," she said.
The program will also provide fishers up to $1,000 to buy cleaning supplies and equipment needed to meet COVID-19 health orders issued by the territory's chief public health officer. There are 34 registered commercial fishers who sell products to the Fresh Water Fish Marketing Corporation, according to the release.