Tag Archives: West Coast Crab Strike
West Coast Crab Strike is Over
Oregon crab fishermen Friday came to an agreement with processors, ending an 11-day strike over the cost companies will pay this season for their harvest. In December, processors — primarily Pacific Choice Seafood, the largest on the West Coast — agreed to $3 a pound, but on Dec. 26 backed off that price, offering $2.75. At that point, crab fishermen tied up their boats and refused to fish. This week’s negotiations resulted in a $2.875 price — right down the middle, said Brookings fisherman Bernie Lindley. “Happy? I don’t know,” Lindley said of the final price. “In a successful negotiation, nobody’s happy and nobody’s pissed. For me, personally, I wish it would’ve been resolved more fairly for the fishermen, but we’re back to work, and so be it.” Read the story here, 08:10
Whither the crab? Monterey Bay pulls empty pots Click here
Crab strike ends; crabbers, Pacific Group agree to $2.875 per pound price Click here
‘Today is a Good Result’: Dan Occhipinti, general counsel at Pacific Seafood Group Click here
West Coast Crab Strike Set to Expand Further South
Crab fishermen from San Francisco and Half Moon Bay are set to join Humboldt Bay fishermen in a crab strike that has now spread from Bodega Bay to Westport, Washington. The strike is over a 25-cent price drop proposed by one of the largest seafood companies on the West Coast, Pacific Group, which owns Humboldt-based buyer Pacific Choice Seafood Inc. When the strike expands to Half Moon bay, it will account for approximately 824 miles of the West Coast and according to Ken Bates, vice president of the Humboldt Fisherman’s Marketing Association, could potentially tie up 400 to 500 boats. Bates said no action or progress was expected to take place over the New Year’s holiday — although the meeting is set for 11 a.m. Saturday — and that smaller fish companies are waiting to continue to buy crabs at $3 a pound, which has been the original negotiated price since November, but they are unwilling to risk buying crabs if Pacific Group, the company behind the price drop, is successful in lowering the price. Read the story here 13:06
