Lobster boats lined up at the wharf in Val Comeau, N.B., before the spring season began. The New Brunswick government has offered an aid package that could trim the province's lobster fleet by 13 per cent. (Alison Northcott/CBC)

The New Brunswick government is attempting to help the province's troubled lobster fishery by offering $11 million in loans to buy back about 13 per cent of the fishing licences.

Premier Shawn Graham announced the loans for the fishery on Tuesday in the northern fishing community of Neguac.

For years, the Maritime Fishermen's Union has argued that there are too many lobster boats vying for limited resources.

The union's solution was to buy back some lobster licences so remaining fishermen have more viable operations.

'There's a lot of big things to look at because we're not going to give our licence for nothing.'— Rheal Savoie, lobster fisherman

Graham endorsed that plan on Tuesday when he confirmed the provincial government will lend them money to buy back roughly 150 licences.

"This is something that the industry leaders have been asking for. Our government has taken their message and recognized that we have a role to play," Graham said.

"We're giving them the important tools now to go out and consult with their membership to devise a program to allow this industry to be more sustainable over the long term."

The loan is interest-free for the first five years and will be repaid in a decade.

It means the Maritime Fishermen's Union can now access the federal government's $50-million Atlantic Lobster Sustainability Measures plan that was rolled out last year.

Fishermen now have to figure out how the buy-back of about 150 licences will work and how the loan will be repaid.

"There is too many fishermen for the resource. And in order for fishermen to be viable, you need to catch volumes," said Andre Martin, the president of the MFU.

Some fishermen, such as Rheal Savoie, have questions about the process of buying up licences and wonder whether the buy-back will be worth it for them to leave the lobster industry.

"There's a lot of big things to look at because we're not going to give our licence for nothing," Savoie said.

Need more help

Although the rationalization plan will help fix a long-standing complaint of the industry that there were too many fisherman chasing too few lobster in the region, it does not tackle the problem of low prices that is plaguing the industry.

Lobster fishermen across the Maritimes were hit last year with some of the lowest prices in 20 years.

Some fishermen were selling their product for less than $3 a pound. And others turned to opening public markets or using the online classified site Kijiji to sell their catch.

Those low prices sparked protests from many Maritime lobster fishermen and prompted the federal government to unveil a new $65-million plan to help Atlantic Canadian fishermen, with $15 million of that fund earmarked for the lobster industry.

The Lobster Council of Canada was created last fall to develop ways to revive the struggling industry.

The council is made up of representatives from fishermen's groups, processors and lobster buyers in Eastern Canada.