Hurricanes posing increasing problems for East Coast fisheries without insurance

financialpost.com:

It cost fish farmers in Prince Edward Island more than $70 million when Hurricane Fiona hit in 2022. Similarily, owners evacuated the biggest shrimp farm in the United States when Hurricane Milton bore down on Florida last week.

That’s why Peter Warris worries when tropical storms head north.

As executive director of the P.E.I. Aquaculture Alliance, he represents an industry that, strange as it may seem, is largely uninsured against weather disasters. That’s because most shellfish growers say the rates are too high. An insurance policy to cover an oyster or mussel farm can run anywhere from $30,000 to millions of dollars.

“High-energy events are certainly one of the main things I think we’re going to be faced with … and the industry is going to need support,” Warris said.

The alliance has spearheaded a plan that would help the industry recover from future storms by offering an insurance package that would be shared equally between owners and the provincial and federal governments.

But it won’t happen unless governments get on board. So far, P.E.I. has pledged to pay a share, but Fisheries and Oceans and Canada has yet to sign on.

“I make no predictions or promises until someone’s signature is on a piece of paper,” he said, adding that he briefly spoke about the plan with Diane Lebouthillier, who is in charge of the federal ministry.

Land-based farming is protected under the Sustainable Canadian Agriculture Partnership, which offers insurance against damage and losses caused by weather events and other natural disasters.

Warris said Hurricane Fiona was a wake-up call. Initial damage estimates were pegged at $70 million.

That same year, total Canadian shellfish farming was valued at just $125 million.

P.E.I. offered