Northern Native Fishing Corporation harvesters have been unable to fish due to late licence issuance by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO).
The N.A.G. licences required by NNFC fishers have been “On Hold” since July 13, 2022. As of July 21, 2022, NNFC fish harvesters have missed out on four days of valuable fishing time.
“A commercial or communal commercial Salmon licence (any category A, FA or NAG) is required to commercially harvest Salmon,” DFO’s website says.
Because of this reliance on licences, commercial fish harvesters can be hurt financially by late licences — as can their families and communities.
The uncertainty caused by unknown licence wait times has placed severe and unnecessary stress on NNFC fishers.
NNFC also offers a service to commercial harvesters in renewing their Fishers Registration Cards (FNC). According to NNFC, these registration cards are also being processed slowly.
NNFC says that these wait times are “unacceptable” and UFAWU-Unifor agrees.
This issue must be resolved quickly to prevent any further loss of income and unnecessary stress.
For more information or to schedule an interview with a spokesperson, please contact UFAWU-Unifor Communications Organizer Liam Hill-Allan at communications@ufawu.org.