Digby Neck fishermen urge DFO to start much-needed wharf repairs

Digby Neck fishermen are urging the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to repair three wharves in the area they say are in danger of falling apart.

The wharves, in Sandy Cove, Centreville and Little River harbours, are unsafe, saidNoel Facey, chair of Digby Neck Harbours Steering Committee.

"It's been between 40 and 80 years since there's been any real major upgrades done to those moors," he told CBC's Information Morning on Thursday.

Facey saidthe wharves may not appear to be in bad shape but he said there are real structural problems with the three wharves that need to be addressed.

'A safety issue'

About 50 to 60 boats work out of those three harbours and the repairs are needed to keep the boats secure when there are high winds or a storm, he said.

"It's a safety issue. When a storm comes, there are no places for the boats to put in and have a safe harbour."

The fishery in Digby Neck generates about $50 million in revenues per year, supplying catches to four fish plants in the area.

The steering committee, made up of the three harbour authorities, is lobbying DFO and the federal government to make needed repairs as soon as possible.

Harbour authority supplied engineering plan

The Little River Harbour Authority even spent between $12,000 and $15,000 to hire engineers to come up with a plan to make the repairs, Facey said.

The steering committee has shared those plans with DFO.

"We live in Nova Scotia and it's not a question of if a storm comes, it's when the storm comes," Facey said.

"If we have another Groundhog Day storm and some of this infrastructure comes down, then what? Where do we go then?"

'It's a long process'

Jake MacLeay, DFO area manager for small craft harbours in southwest Nova Scotia, said the department is sending out an engineer to write a report on the three wharves in Digby Neck. That should happen in the next month or two, he said.

"There are approximately 87 different harbours that I'm responsible for," said MacLeay.

"We're slowly trying to rebuild and replace and improve. There's engineering that needs to get done, the tendering process, having a contractor completing the work. It's a long process, sometimes years in the making."

Facey said fishermen who boat out of Digby Neck are frustrated that other wharves along the Fundy coast including Harbourville, Halls Harbour and Meteghan have received major upgrades over the past few years.

"There has been major work done to upgrade those harbours, but for some reason, there doesn't seem to be any interest in upgrading the harbours on Digby Neck," he said.