Roughly 200 fish plant workers worried about the future of their seasonal jobs protested outside a Department of Fisheries and Oceans office in Tracadie-Sheila, N.B., on Tuesday.

Carrying placards saying, "Let us work," the frustrated fish plant workers employed in the Acadian Peninsula came out to express concerns over their job prospects.

The fish plant workers believe their jobs are at risk because of restrictions imposed on commercial seiners by the federal department.

The workers, mostly seasonal employees, say these restrictions mean fewer fish are being caught and that means less work for them.

Michel Gauvin, who manages a seafood processing plant in Maisonette, said pressure from inshore herring fishermen has forced restrictions that lock seiners out of areas where they have traditionally fished.

"We're down to a point where our fisheries are not viable anymore," Gauvin said.

"We had so many cuts imposed on us for reasons other than conservation over the years and we just can't make it anymore. Employees can't work. We have to come up with solutions to do something for them."

Tracadie-Sheila is a small coastal community among many northeastern New Brunswick communities that rely heavily on the fishing industry for jobs.

The DFO has said restrictions on where seiners can fish were imposed for conservation.

In 2004, the DFO moved the seiners farther out, from 17 to 20 fathoms. The seiners' owners and workers in New Brunswick have since argued that change hurt their industry.

Godin says restrictions are unfair

Acadie-Bathurst NDP MP Yvon Godin is siding with the fish plant workers, saying the restrictions are unfair.

"We're not in the game of politics when it's come to the livelihood of the working people," he said.

Godin said he will deliver a petition from the workers to federal Fisheries Minister Gail Shea.

Additionally, Godin said he'll push for a meeting between Shea and the hundreds of fish plant workers in the Acadian Peninsula who are fearing that their jobs are in jeopardy.

Asked about the New Brunswick protest Tuesday, Shea said conservation must remain a priority to preserve the herring fishery.

"I know that these people and the herring seine fishery because regulations are a little stricter for them. But as I've said, conservation has to be the priority," she said.

Herring stocks threatened

The federal government is also looking at other changes that have sparked concern in the fishing industry on Prince Edward Island.

The department recently is proposing to reduce the size of catchable herring from 24.5 centimetres to 23.5 cm.

The P.E.I. Fishermen's Association said last week that the proposal would be disastrous to herring stocks in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence.