Compensation coming for lobster fishermen sidelined by Maritime Link work

The company behind the Maritime Linkhas agreed to compensation fora group of60 Cape Breton lobster and crabfishermen affected by the project this season.

Workbegan last monthon installing one of two 170-kilometre cables thatwill eventually cross the ocean floorbetween Cape Ray, N.L., and Point Aconi, N.S.

At landfall in Cape Breton, cable laying and other offshore construction activitywill close a three-kilometre-long and 600-metre-wide swathof ocean bottom to lobster fishing for the entire 2017 lobsterseason.

"Emeraneeds a safety installation zone that remains clear of all fishing gear and that's particularly importantduring the summer cable landing," said Jeff Myrick, senior communications manager withEmera Newfoundland and Labrador, a subsidiary of Halifax-based Emera Inc.

Terms of the compensation deal reached with the fishermenare not being released, he said.

Deal will 'fairly compensate'

"They are designed to fairly compensate local harvesters that have been temporarily impacted by the cable safety zone and the agreement also establishes communication protocols to ensure the continued flow of informationdirectlyto the harvesters," said Myrick.

"That includes weekly updates on cable installation activity, ongoing engagement with the fisheries liaison committees that we established several years ago, notices to mariners and also launching of buoys to mark the safety zone area."

Lobster season in the area beginsMay 15 and ends on July 15.

Fishermen's union pleased

Kevin Squires, president of Local 6of the Maritime Fishermen's Union, said he was pleased to hear a deal has been reached.

"Locally people are concerned that they're being displaced from their traditional fishing grounds," said Squires, who fishes out of Big Bras d'Or. He said he is not affected by the compensation deal.

"The lobster fishery in particular in this case is a very brief one," he continued.

"People depend very heavily on it. We don't have a lot of other fishery resourcesand people are being pushed out of an area that they typically have been depending on for a number of years."

'Only reasonable' to expectcompensation

Squires said he believes compensation deals should be included in other major developments.

"When a new piece of development, whether it's a cable or oil drilling or whatever comes in and changes the environment in which people have been operating in, I think it's only reasonable that the new player monitors what changes their work might have brought to bear."

Squires added that it'simportant for Emera to monitor any future impact from the Maritime Linkon the fishery.

Myrick said a federal and provincial environmental review didnot show any "significant adverse environmental effects with the implementationof the proposed design features, mitigation featuresand monitoring follow-up programs."

"We're confident that at the end of this installation process [fishermen]can resume," he said.

Myrick said the first cable should come through on the PointAconiside in the next week or so.

The Maritime Link project is expected to be completed sometime in December. When finished, it will be the longestsubseaelectricity cable in North America.