Tag Archives: crab harvesters
Crab harvesters heading back to Confederation Building on Monday morning, Efford says
John Efford, the unofficial leader of a fisheries union protest that has gripped Newfoundland and Labrador’s seafood industry, says crab harvesters will be back to protesting on Monday morning. In a Facebook post on Thursday evening, Efford called on harvesters to meet outside Confederation Building at 7 a.m. NT on Monday to protest for a better deal to start the lucrative snow crab season, along with other demands. Efford called on harvesters from all over the province to head to St. John’s to begin protests. The main crux of the protest relates to the ongoing dispute over the crab season. The FFAW and the Association of Seafood Producers (ASP) have exchanged barbs in recent days, accusing each other of spreading misinformation. more, >>click to read<< 12:35
Crab Harvesters Demand Fair Share
JOHN’S, NL – FFAW-Unifor is not surprised by provincial government’s decision to approve the World Energy GH2 project’s environmental assessment and ultimately green light the project. On February 28th, 2024, before the approval announcement by Minister Bernard Davis on April 9thand despite continued reassurance from World Energy GH2 that the project was entirely privately funded, the Government of Canada announced a $128 million-dollar federal loan to support the development. It was very clear from federal Minister Seamus O’Regan’s announcement on that date that there is significant political will, and a great sense of urgency, to move the project forward. FFAW met with Minister Davis twice in March to amplify the concerns of fish harvesters and the continuous aversion by World Energy to work collaboratively with FFAW-Unifor towards meaningful consultation. The harvesting sector is not being engaged as a major stakeholder nor as an industry that will inevitably be impacted, and this divergence is creating a great deal of frustration and mistrust for the project. more, >>click to read<< 14:35
Newfoundland and Labrador: Crab Harvesters Demand Fair Share
The crab fishing season officially started on Saturday, April 6th, yet all harvesters in Newfoundland and Labrador stayed tied up demanding their fair share. The Blackwood Report, commissioned by the province, demonstrated a fair-sharing arrangement for fish harvesters in Newfoundland and Labrador. Harvesters refuse to fish for any formula that undersells their slice of the pie. What are harvesters demanding: more, >>click to read<< 09:24
Crab harvesters refusing to fish under current pricing formula, union wants right to strike
In a news release Tuesday night, the Fish, Food & Allied Workers said its members cannot fish under the price formula chosen by the province’s price-setting panel. That formula was put forward by the Association for Seafood Producers and sets a floor price of $2.60 per pound. The union held a meeting on Tuesday afternoon with more than 40 crab committee chairs from across the province, and said the message was clear. “Crab harvesters fully understand the importance of their business to their families and their communities. This injustice must be corrected, and we expect that harvesters will support leadership’s position to not fish,” FFAW president Greg Pretty said in the release. more, >>click to read<< 10:04
Crab harvesters will lose out on $30M because price-setting panel sided with processors, says Efford
With the time-sensitive snow crab season set to begin in a few days, fish harvesters in Newfoundland and Labrador are once again talking about tying up their boats due to the price of crab. One vocal critic says the new decision will cost harvesters as much as $30 million from a lucrative fishery that has become the economic mainstay in the industry since the cod collapse of the early 1990s. The province’s price-setting panel sided with the Association of Seafood Producers on Monday evening, setting a price floor of $2.60 per pound with the ability go up as market factors change. John Efford, the Port de Grave fisherman who led protests throughout March, said when he heard the price setting panel had chosen the ASP formula his first reaction was one of disbelief. Photos, Video, more, >>click to read<< 16:35
Tensions run high as crab harvesters call on N.L. government to introduce outside buyers
More than 150 fishermen led an anger-fueled protest on the steps of Confederation Building on Tuesday, calling on the Newfoundland and Labrador government to free up the fishery and allow harvesters to sell their product to outside buyers. Under the current rules, harvesters are only allowed to sell their catch to processors in the province at a price agreed upon by the Fish, Food & Allied Workers union and the Association of Seafood Producers. Harvesters are calling on the province to give them more control over where they can sell their catch and how much they can sell it for. “The plants are telling us when to come and when to go and how much crab to bring…. So we need some free enterprise to be able to go as we please and fish as we please,” said Dwayne Maher, a crab fisherman of more than 30 years from Salvage. Photos, video, more, >>click to read<< 20:52
FFAW: Conflict Brews At-Sea as Drill Rig Takes Over Prime Crab Grounds
July 21, 2023 – Crab harvesters on the Avalon Peninsula are calling out the oil and gas industry as the Hercules drill rig, operated by ExxonMobil in the Jeanne d’Arc Basin, is in direct conflict with traditional prime fishing grounds. Despite vocal opposition from FFAW-Unifor throughout the consultation process with the regulatory body, the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB), the Board and Exxon proceeded with the drill operations during peak fishing time in an especially difficult year for harvesters. “Our members feel this brewing spatial conflict is representative of the continuous disregard for the fishing industry. Expansion of the oil and gas industry needs to be considered alongside the fishery, not in priority to it,” says FFAW-Unifor President Greg Pretty. >click to read the press release< 14:28
Still a lot of crab to be caught in Newfoundland and Labrador
A 2022 report by consultant David Conway, who was commissioned by the province to review the fish price setting system, recommended the industry begin discussions in October of that year to establish a formula for crab prices for the 2023 season. However, discussions between the FFAW and ASP didn’t get going until March, partly because both groups saw a change in leadership over the winter with Keith Sullivan resigning as union and Derek Butler leaving as executive director of the ASP. The decision on prices for this season fell to the province’s Fish Price Setting Panel which used the final offer selection model, where processors and the union each made a pitch on price and the panel had to choose one or the other. >click to read< 13:12
Forget fall snow crab fishing; seafood consultant says it didn’t work before for Newfoudland and Labrador
It was an idea proposed by fish harvester Jason Sullivan. As Newfoundland and Labrador crab fishing boats remain tied up, their captains saying they can’t afford to fish for this year’s price of $2.20 a pound, the Bay Bulls inshore fisherman suggested waiting to fish in the fall might mean better prices. His theory is that holding off to fish until fall might give the market time to absorb the leftover inventory from 2022, and be a prime time to deliver fresh crab to consumers for the Thanksgiving and Christmas season. >click to read< 09:59
Ice and weather causing problems for Northern Peninsula crab fishers
In a normal season fish harvester Ronald Patey of Englee would have caught his crab quota by now. However, bad weather and ice are causing problems for crab harvesters on the Northern Peninsula so far this fishing season. Patey of Englee made his first crab-fishing trip on May 17. “It’s unreal how slow going it is,” said Patey. “I believe my first trip last year we hauled up 2,800 pounds. Our first trip this year we hauled up 700 pounds.,,, The situation is a little better for St. Anthony fisherman Jamie Rose. >click to read<20:13
No consultation, No communication – New transatlantic cable causing headaches for crab harvesters
Crab harvesters off the southeast Avalon are upset over a new fibre optic cable being laid through their fishing grounds. Avalon MP Scott Andrews is speaking out against the project. He’s representing the interests of crab harvesters, who think the timing couldn’t be worse given the recent start of the crab season. “It’s been a real pain in the ass,” he said. “There’s been no consultation, no communication. Now they’re being told they’ve got to up and root their pots and move them away from where this fibre optic cable is going through.” Read the rest here 10:43
