Pretty over his head: FFAW leader unaware inshore fishery excluded from Competition Act
Thursday, May 18th, 2022 – Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) says the president of the FFAW-Unifor is over his head in calling for the Competition Bureau of Canada to investigate the inshore fishery when much of the sector is excluded from the act.
“It’s shocking that Greg Pretty doesn’t know that the only industry in Canada that’s pretty much excluded from the federal Competition Act is the inshore fishery,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director. “It’s no wonder the six-week tie-up has been such a circus with nothing to show for it.”
During an FFAW-Unifor news conference this week on the crab tie-up, Pretty said the Competition Bureau should investigate the lack of competition in the inshore fishery.
Owner-operators in this province often complain they cannot move freely between buyers/processors, and processing companies have been accused of working together as a cartel to keep fish prices down.
Only fish pricing in this province is excluded from the federal Competition Act.
SEA-NL wrote Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in May 2022 (letter below) to request that then-proposed amendments to the Competition Act (which were to tackle anti-competitive conspiracies between competitors that hurt workers) include fish pricing.
The prime minister did not reply to the letter.
In Newfoundland and Labrador processors can import snow crab from the Maritimes, Quebec, and other countries for processing at local plants, while those same companies can order the inshore fleet (which can’t access outside buyers, or truck out their catches) tied to the wharf on trip limits.
Strikes are also outlawed, and final prices are binding, meaning harvesters do not vote on them.
SEA-NL wrote Premier Andrew Furey earlier this month to request his government call a second, sweeping investigation of the broken final-offer selection system after last year’s three-month review failed to do the job.
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Contact Ryan Cleary 709 682 4862
Wednesday, May 4th, 2022
The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau,
Prime Minister of Canada.
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0A6
Dear Prime Minister,
As Executive Director of SEA-NL, a professional organization representing licensed owner-operator inshore fish harvesters in the province, I write to respectfully request that fish pricing in Newfoundland and Labrador be included with planned amendments to the federal Competition Act.
As you may know, one of the few industries in Canada excluded from the federal Competition Act is the Newfoundland and Labrador fishery. More specifically, section 4 (1) (b) of the Act excludes contracts, agreements or arrangements between associations of fishermen and fish buyers/processors.
This province’s inshore fishing fleet pays the price for the exclusion of fish price negotiations from the Competition Act in terms of less money for their fish.
In the recent federal budget, your administration revealed plans to make amendments to toughen Canadian competition laws. As part of those changes, government pledged to tackle anti-competitive conspiracies between competitors that hurt workers.
In 2021, Premier Andrew Furey’s economy recovery team described the structure of fish price negotiations in this province as “anti-competitive by nature.”
For example, in Newfoundland and Labrador fish buyers/processors are importing snow crab from the Maritimes and Quebec this year for processing at local plants, while those same processors are ordering the inshore fleet — which cannot access outside fish buyers — tied to the wharf with limits on how much they can catch in a single trip to sea.
Fish prices paid to our inshore harvesters are too often much less than the prices paid to fleets across the Gulf, and that fundamental unfairness can only end when the playing field is levelled in terms of fair competition.
Owner-operators in this province often complain they cannot move freely between buyers/processors, and processing companies have been accused of working together as a cartel to keep fish prices down.
Newfoundland and Labrador also has a particular system of fish pricing whereby a provincial government-appointed panel decides the price of a particular species when the union representing harvesters and association representing processors/buyers cannot agree on a price.
That system often does not result in the inshore fleet getting a fair market share from the sale of fish.
From SEA-NL’s perspective, no industry should be excluded from the federal Competition Act, and on behalf of our owner-operator members I implore your government to include fish price negotiations under the Competition Act when amendments are made to the legislation.
Sincerely,
Ryan Cleary,
Executive Director
SEA-NL
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador Inc.
709 682 4862
SEA-NL.ca
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