P.E.I. fishermen say they're short on time and money as Fiona recovery gets underway

Fishermen on P.E.I. say the federal government's $300-million fund for Atlantic Canada is a good start to recover from post-tropical storm Fiona, but falls far short of what is needed.

It will cost millions just to fix the wharf at Covehead Harbour alone, said Allan Coady.

"It's unbelievable, the damage. It's almost a condemned wharf the way it is right now."

Coady said the goal now is to patch the wharf back together as well as they can, so fishermen can get back to work next spring. He believes there's not enough time — or money — to complete the work before then.  

"This is not the only wharf that was damaged, that's the problem. If it was the only wharf, it wouldn't be a problem. But there are many like this. It's devastated this whole community." 

On Monday, federal Fisheries Minister Joyce Murray got a first-hand look at the damage caused by the storm, but didn't commit any new money.

She did say $100-million of the $300-million announced by the prime minister earlier this month will be used to support urgent harbour repairs.

Ottawa will also spend $1.5 million to replace lost gear, including nets, rope and traps. 

"So, we're still in the process of assessing, this money will be used to do the immediate repairs so that they can be reusable this spring," Murray said.

There will be clearly more work done over the long-term to do the complete restoration as well as building resiliency into the harbours.— Joyce Murray

"Then there will be clearly more work done over the long-term to do the complete restoration as well as building resiliency into the harbours." 

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans said 133 of the more than 180 harbours it manages in the region were affected.

Some breakwaters have been demolished, floating wharves ripped from their moorings, and electrical systems destroyed. 

Tignish fisherman Kenneth LeClair said the costs to replace materials have increased with inflation.

"It's really expensive compared to what it used to be. Everything has gone up, the price of materials, steel's gone up, concrete, you name it, manpower has gone up huge compared to what it used to be, so we're hoping they'll come around and if anybody needs it, they'll up the money a little bit." 

Fishermen plan to work during the winter to get equipment repaired

But some projects won't get started until the new year, at the earliest.  

The spring lobster season starts in about six months.

"Right now, there's just a lot of people trying to pick up the pieces and figure out how to salvage the fallout of this," said aquaculture harvester Robbie Moore.