Bridgewater, Nova Scotia – Mr. Gerald Keddy, Member of Parliament for South Shore-St. Margaret’s, on behalf of the Honourable Gail Shea, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, today announced that the Government of Canada is investing up to $6.1 million to clean up and repair storm-damaged harbours in Nova Scotia.

“Our Government is taking action to clean up and repair the harbours damaged in recent storms,” said Mr. Keddy. “We will work to make these harbours safe and functional for the commercial fishing industry, and the communities that depend on them.”

Today’s investment will fund cleanup and repair projects at over 50 harbours. The Government is working to ensure fishing harbours required for the spring 2011 fisheries will be repaired to a condition that allows safe access for commercial fishers. Urgent work has already begun. Projects requiring major interventions will be carried out over the next two years.

In the fall and winter of 2010, Hurricane Igor in Newfoundland, the Manitoba “Weather Bomb,” and the December storms in Atlantic Canada and Quebec, caused damage to fishing harbours in more than 250 communities. Nationally, the Government of Canada is investing $71.6 million to clean up and repair harbours and help communities recover from these devastating storms.

Over the past months, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans has been working with local communities, harbour authorities and Public Works and Government Services Canada to assess damages. This funding will allow the Department to continue on-site assessments and engineering studies, as well as undertake the necessary cleanup and repair projects.