Madam Chair, the government moved quickly to make sure that we were there to support fish harvesters with the fish harvester benefit and grant program. This was almost a half a billion dollar program. It was one of the largest single investments in the fisheries since the cod moratorium.
It was extremely important for us to make sure that harvesters had the access they needed to make tough business decisions on a season that saw the collapse of export markets and the closure of restaurants. We needed to make sure that fish harvesters were able to make the right decisions about whether or not they were going to fish this year.
The money that was invested definitely helped the industry. We are excited to see that there has been a good season for the harvesters this year.