No problem.
The Prince Edward Island Fishermen's Association would like to thank the Standing Committee on Finance for providing the opportunity to present today on the impacts of COVID-19 on the fishing industry.
Prior to the virus being diagnosed in Canada, the impacts on the east coast fishery were already being felt. As many Canadians know, Canada has been a major supplier of seafood into international markets. Although domestic consumption of seafood is increasing, many offshore markets consume significant quantities of seafood on a daily basis.
Our reputation as a high-quality seafood provider is worldwide. We are proud of this reputation, and have worked very hard to diversify and keep markets in what is traditionally a very competitive environment. We are, however, facing an even more challenging environment with the impacts of the virus affecting restaurants, casinos, cruise lines, hotels and other travel-related industries.
On Prince Edward Island, we are very dependent on lobster as our primary seafood product. Most of our product is processed or shipped live on the island or in New Brunswick or Nova Scotia. Therefore, any slowdown in markets does have a direct bearing on our fishery. Our 1,270 members fish either a spring or fall lobster season of about two months' duration. This means that sufficient income must be generated during this compressed time to cover costs until the following year.
One very important point to make is that the men and women who harvest our seafood products are passionate about what they do, and fishing is what they want to do.
Today I'm accompanied by Captain Mitchell Jollimore. In addition to being our association's vice-president, he is an active harvester. Captain Jollimore is a knowledgeable resource in terms of identifying the challenges faced by younger captains in the industry. Although the past years have improved financially for a number of P.E.I. harvesters, there are additional challenges for those who have bought in over the past seven years to 10 years.
The fishing industry has been declared an essential industry in Canada. Over the past six weeks, all parts of the sector have worked tirelessly to create protocols that will keep plant and wharf personnel and boat crews healthy and safe. The best scenario is that harvesters are able to generate enough income to cover key expenses until 2021. In today's environment this will be challenging.
The PEIFA has therefore developed a proposal that will stabilize fleets with supports that will be activated if certain gross income levels are not achieved. We did submit our formal document, but Captain Jollimore has a written submission that he will cover. I apologize if it didn't make it in time for translation, but I think it's in a little more of an understandable format.
I'll turn this over to Captain Jollimore.
