SEA-NL calling on Ottawa to revisit EI eligibility requirements

SEA-NL is calling on Ottawa to revisit late-season changes to Employment Insurance eligibility requirements.

By changing the rules, the organization alleges, it will expose the inshore fleet to a greater risk at sea.

SEA-NL has warned that trip limits and fishing schedules in the snow crab fishery can pressure owner-operators to fish in dangerous conditions.

“Like fishing schedules that tell the inshore fleet when to fish, changes to EI late in the fishing season pressure boats to fish in weather and conditions they might not ordinarily fish in,” says Merv Wiseman, a member of SEA-NL’s board of directors.

Last month the EI goalposts changed when the provincial unemployment rate outside St. John's dropped.