Fisheries cuts could claim 29 N.B. jobs

Twenty-nine New Brunswickers who work for the federal Fisheries department received notice Thursday they may lose their jobs due to pending cuts.

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans is planning to close two of its five regional offices, seven of its 11 libraries and some Coast Guard stations.

A total of1,072 noticeswent out across the country.

"Finance and administration workers were also affected, fishery manager workers were affected, science workers were affected, you know - biologists and chemists that work in the hatcheries and the research stations were affected yesterday," said Jeannie Baldwin, the regional executive vice-president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada in Halifax.

'The decisions they're making are going to have devastating effects, not only in the communities, but also to the environment and the fisheries here in the Atlantic and right across Canada.' Jeannie Baldwin, PSAC

"The decisions they're making are going to have devastating effects, not only in the communities, but also to the environment and the fisheries here in the Atlantic and right across Canada," she said.

The cuts mean not just jobs, but the end of programs, Baldwin has said.

About 16 scientists and librarians in St. Andrews were among those who received notices.

An unknown number of notices went out at the Coast Guard station in Saint John, where about 40 people work.

The Coast Guard also has a lifeboat station with eight employees in Shippagan.

Baldwin says workers at the fish hatchery in Mactaquac are also affected. They may be merging with another hatchery.

It's not known if any notices went out in Moncton, where about 250 people work at the Gulf Fisheries Centre. That facility also houses a library.

The job cuts are part of the governments plan to reduce DFOs operational budget by $79.3 million.

The layoffs are the second round of cuts in five months at the department.

In December, 400 employees received notices half of them scientists.