The layoff of up to 150 workers in Blacks Harbour at the only sardine packing plant in North America and a significant cut in the herring quota in the Bay of Fundy are affecting not only the workers and the Quoddy area community but also the herring and lobster fishermen in southwestern New Brunswick, all of whom are feeling a devastating loss.
      Connors Bros., the world's largest producer of canned herring, on September 5 announced the layoff of over 20% of the positions at its Blacks Harbour factory. According to an announcement from Connors, the staff reduction is a result of the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans' decision in July to cut the total allowable catch (TAC) for herring in the Bay of Fundy by 24%. The government also stated that this lower allowable catch would hold for the next four years.
      "We've been operating in this community for over 130 years, and this is a heartbreaking decision, but it's necessary to keep our plant viable moving forward," says Chad Baum, general manager of Connors Bros., which is a division of Clover Leaf Seafoods Corp. "We were surprised and disappointed by the DFO's decision to slash the quota by so much and by the unprecedented four year directive."
      John Craig, the mayor for Eastern Charlotte, says the announcement by Connors came as a surprise to him. "It's unfortunate for the people who were laid off," he says, noting that he understands about 150 workers are affected. Some are seasonal and some are from other countries, including Mexico. In response to the layoffs, Craig set up to have representatives from the provincial Department of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour come down on September 13 to St. George to help those who lost their jobs find other employment.
      "The good news is that they are staying open. They're in the process of restructuring and are keeping the doors open," the mayor notes. "Connors is doing what is has to do to survive." He hopes that the company may be able to bring workers back in the coming years.
      Baum says the company and the industry will continue to ask the DFO to reconsider its science and to reevaluate the future quota recommendations, as there is disagreement among experts on the status of the herring stock. However, he says the impact of the decision is immediate and necessitated the layoff at the processing plant, which employs up to 450 staff depending on the season.
      The company gave impacted employees a six week working notice on September 5. The workers laid off will be offered severance payments in proportion to tenure as well as employee assistance programs and placement services. Following the six week notice period, the plant will continue operating with a reduced workforce.
      The Blacks Harbour factory, across the waters from Eastport, which was the sardine capital of the world, is the last of what was a once the dominant industry in the Quoddy area, employing thousands and with sardine carriers plying the bay day and night, bringing fish from the weirs and later on the purse seiners to the factories.

Devastating news for communities
      Both the layoffs and the herring quota reduction are impacting the herring and lobster fisheries throughout the region. Melanie Sonnenberg, general manager of the Grand Manan Fishermen's Association, says the decisions are "devastating news for our community," noting that any option that reduces the opportunity for fishermen to sell their catch is not good.
      "Connors has been a long-time partner for the weir fishery," she notes, and while fishermen are not currently preoccupied about the possible loss of market, if there is a glut of fish it could be a problem. Currently there are between eight and 10 weirs that are being fished on the island.
      But the decision does not just affect the herring industry, as the lobster fishery will also be impacted. Lobster fishermen buy the cuttings from the Connors factory for bait, and with the reduction in the herring TAC the purse seiners will not be able to catch as much herring. The processors have contract arrangement they need to fill for canned products, so bait access will be reduced. She says the cost of lobster bait is going up exponentially, with it presently being over $2,000 a tonne.
      "It's not just the herring industry paying the price. It's spilled over to the lobster fishery. It's a huge concern in southwest New Brunswick and southwest Nova Scotia."
      "There is worrying concern mounting here," as the fall lobster fishery is about to begin in November and fishermen are anxious about access to bait, Sonnenberg says. While there is "a lot of talk about alternative bait," she notes that currently there is "nothing to fill the hole left by the lack of access to bait."
      "Lobsters are of one our mainstays," she notes of the island. "It's really concerning for us," she says, referring to the coastal communities that rely on the fisheries. She adds, "I would be concerned over the future for all parties in the herring industry based on this decision."
      Sonnenberg says DFO's decision to reduce the herring TAC "was not well discussed among the industry." Before DFO announced its decision a roundtable discussion could have been held with representatives from the herring industry, she says. "They weren't given the opportunity to do that. We were very disappointed with how it was done," she says, adding, "It didn't feel like the industry was heard." She notes that the fishing industry provided an expert to assist DFO with its stock assessment, but his advice was for "the most part not taken. He wasn't given the respect he deserved and was basically dismissed," she says.
      While she would like to think that DFO might revisit its decision, she says there is no indication that they are willing to talk about it. And she points out, "They're not addressing other things that are going on in the ocean." Noting that fishermen have been told that herring are staying deep in the water, she asks whether the federal department has been looking at whether that is a result of climate change and warmer oceans. "Why have herring stopped coming inshore?" She also asks whether the loss of protective covering in spawning areas is a result of climate change. Instead, DFO "did the easiest thing and cut the TAC."
      Comment from DFO on the herring TAC decision was not available.