Tag Archives: Fisheries Minister Derrick Bragg
Snow crab producers, harvesters ready to move on from 6-week delay to start of season
“We have a shortened season, we have an increase in quota, and it’s very important that we keep our focus not on what has happened, but where we need to go,” ASP executive director Jeff Loder told reporters Tuesday. Loder did show slight frustration around the length of the holdout, saying both the price of $2.20 and the incremental increases were part of conversations months ago. Although the FFAW wasn’t able to change the $2.20 per pound set by the price-setting panel, President Greg Pretty says the work done in six weeks of holding out, like making sure $2.20 is the minimum price along with incremental increases, is a positive. >click to read< 15:06
Snow crab harvesters prepared to stay on land as fisheries minister justifies secret ballot letter
Snow crab harvesters in Newfoundland say they’re still holding out on this year’s season in search of a better price, even after the province’s fisheries minister urged the Fish, Food & Allied Workers union to ask fishermen if they want to be on the water. “We’re at a standstill now. We can’t go fishing because right now the price, I mean it’s just too low at $2.20 a pound. It’s just not feasible to catch right now,” Jamie Stack, a snow crab fisherman in Petty Harbour. Stack and other harvesters spoke in response to a letter sent by Fisheries Minister Derrick Bragg to the FFAW on Wednesday, asking the union to hold a secret ballot vote to see if snow crab harvesters are ready to fish at $2.20 per pound as other provinces fish at similar prices. >click to read< 18:55
N.L. fisheries minister urges union to hold secret ballot vote on snow crab harvest
Newfoundland and Labrador Fisheries Minister Derrick Bragg has urged the Fish, Food & Allied Workers union to hold a secret ballot vote asking snow crab harvesters if they are ready to fish at $2.20 per pound. Harvesters have stayed off the water three weeks into the province’s most lucrative fishery, as they protest what they consider a catastrophic price of $2.20 per pound. The topic came to a head earlier this week, when the Association of Seafood Producers called out intimidation and harassment levelled at fish harvesters who have expressed a willingness to fish for $2.20 a pound. >click to read< 10:51
ASP calls out alleged ‘intimidation’ of crab harvesters who want to fish for $2.20 per pound
The 2023 snow crab season started with a promise between the fisheries union and the processors association to work together — something akin to the Hatfields and McCoys striking a truce. It did not last long. Now three weeks into the snow crab fishery, not a single pound of the 10-legged species has been taken from the water, as fishermen protest what they consider a catastrophic price of $2.20 per pound. On Tuesday, Association of Seafood Producers executive director Jeff Loder called on the fish harvesters to get their boats in the water before it was too late. The FFAW held a news conference of its own on Tuesday where president Greg Pretty said he was disappointed by Loder’s comments. “What he’s outlined here is a recipe for absolute economic disaster for the province,” Pretty said. >click to read< 07:54
Newfoundland and Labrador crab fishery grinds to a halt as harvesters protest prices
It’s peak crab season in Newfoundland and Labrador, but hundreds of fishers spent Monday morning on land, hoisting fists and signs in the air outside the provincial legislature to protest what they say is an unlivable price for snow crab. Some in the crowd said they would much rather be out on the water than protesting. But harvesters are refusing to fish this season after prices were set at $2.20 per pound, a price they say favours fish processors over those who catch the fish. “Our money tree is the fishery of Newfoundland and Labrador, and it’s time for all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians to wake up, for that group of companies is stealing it out from under you!” yelled St. John’s fisher Glen Winslow, pounding his fist on the lectern at the top of the legislature steps. >click to read< 10:00
Labour Minister Bernard Davis to launch review of N.L.’s price-setting system
The review follows weeks of bickering, including several harvester-led protests in recent days on the Northern Peninsula between harvesters and processors over a stalemate in the shrimp fishery that has delayed the harvest. It also comes on the heels of a decision by the provincial government to provide mediation services between the Fish, Food & Allied Workers union and the Association of Seafood Producers in hopes of resolving friction in the shrimp fishery. “It is incumbent on me, as minister responsible for labour, to ensure that we have legislation that is responsive to the needs of 
the industry,” said Davis in the release. Also in the release, Fisheries Minister Derrick Bragg said an efficient and effective price-setting system is “key to ensuring fisheries commence in a timely manner for the maximum benefit of the province’s fishing industry.” >click to read< 10:26
Ocean Choice to Purchase Shrimp at Competitive Price – Ocean Choice’s processing facility in Port aux Choix will be purchasing shrimp at a rate above the minimum price set by the Standing Fish Price-Setting Panel. >click to read<
Fisheries minister defends rare decision to overturn board on new crab licences
The chair of Newfoundland and Labrador’s Fish Processing Licensing Board is speaking out after Fisheries Minister Derrick Bragg overruled the board and denied coveted crab licences for plants in two communities. Reg Anstey said the board’s recommendations on snow crab licences were made over more than a year of research and meetings with scientists in the fishery, adding the independent board’s mandate is to assess the entire industry without a political lens. The board had recommended that four processing plants receive snow crab licences — St. Mary’s Bay Fisheries, Dandy Dan’s in Argentia, Bay Roberts Seafoods and HSF Ocean Products in O’Donnells. However, Bragg only approved crab licences for two of the plants, in St. Mary’s and in Argentia. >click to read< 12:37
Hundreds of Newfoundland fishermen protest prices, pressing minister for changes
Fishermen from across the Avalon Peninsula took their complaints and concerns about pricing for this year’s inshore fishery straight to Fisheries Minister Derrick Bragg in St. John’s on Monday, with a concurrent protest happening in Corner Brook. For fish harvesters like Conway Caines, the $12 per pound in Cape Breton this season is proof enough harvesters in Newfoundland and Labrador deserve more than last year’s $7.60 a pound. The Port Saunders man said he managed to get by in 2021 but said that price isn’t good enough given the higher cost of living this season. “I ain’t got no big quotas. I got enough to pay me instalments, feed me family and try to give me crew a decent share.” >click to read< 08:45
Fisheries Minister Confronted by Protestors at FFAW Rally
Fisheries Minister Derrick Bragg stepped into a lion’s den earlier today as he addressed a crowd gathered at an FFAW protest. The Union organized rallies in St. John’s and Corner Brook to highlight issues around the setting of fish prices. The crowd was loud during the initial speeches, but things took a turn when provincial Fisheries Minister Derrick Bragg took to the microphone. Bragg faced heavy criticism from the vocal crowd on the steps of Confederation Building during his speech. photos, video, >click to read< 16:05
