Tag Archives: Fisheries Minister Gerry Byrne
No authority: Court rules NL fisheries minister erred in changing crab pricing date
It may not have any effect whatsoever on the start of the snow crab fishery, but the courts have decided Fisheries Minister Gerry Byrne overstepped his authority by changing the deadline by which a price must be set. The issue landed before Justice Alexander MacDonald of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador when Byrne decided to change the date from April 1 to April 13. The date is crucial because the snow crab fishing season cannot open until the price and sale terms are set, provided the opening date has also been set by the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Negotiations between FFAW-Unifor, the union that represents inshore fish harvesters and plant workers in Newfoundland and Labrador, and the Association of Seafood Producers (ASP), which represents fish processing companies in the province, failed to reach an agreement on price. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 15:05
Shelling it out: New $3.5-million fund aims to give NL more control over its lobster fishery
The provincial government is planning to infuse $3.5 million into the burgeoning lobster fishery. In a press release Tuesday, April 8, the Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture announced it is requesting applications through a Newfoundland and Labrador Lobster Technology and Innovation Request for Proposals as part of government’s effort to support new technology, processes and innovation in the lobster fishery. According to the release, the funding will be available to both commercial and non-commercial applicants. The level of support will vary from project to project with non-repayable contributions available to a maximum of $100,000 and a rate of assistance of up to 80 per cent, depending on the level of technology and risk of the project. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:02
To be determined: Tariffs threat gone, but NL crab price still a contentious issue
The immediate threat of tariffs has dissipated, but there is no word that the fish processors and harvesters might head back to the negotiating table to hammer out a new price for crab to get the season going. The sides have been caught up in a legal drama since Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture Minister Gerry Byrne approved a delay in the date the parties involved were to have a pricing arrangement in place. The Association of Seafood Producers (ASP), which represents most of the processing companies in Newfoundland and Labrador, took exception to the minister’s decision because it was not a joint request to change the date. Byrne changed the date from April 1 to April 13 due to the extenuating and unforeseen circumstances when FFAW-Unifor, the union that represents most fish harvesters and plant workers, had to change its lead negotiator. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:58
Seafood producers confident in court challenge against N.L. government, fisheries union
The Association of Seafood Producers had its first day in court on Wednesday, challenging the Newfoundland and Labrador government and fisheries union over what it calls “political interference” during price setting negotiations ahead of the snow crab season. The court challenge was prompted when Fisheries Minister Gerry Byrne moved the price setting deadline to April 13, following a request from the Fish, Food and Allied Workers union. The ASP says Byrne acted contrary to the Fishing Industry Collective Bargaining Act and turned to the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador to quash the date change. “If the minister’s decision is quashed, and we expect it to be because he broke the law, then we’re in the situation where we don’t have a minister’s date,” ASP executive director Jeff Loder told reporters outside of the courthouse on Wednesday. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:40
Off to court: Why NL crab processors have filed a Supreme Court application claiming political interference
The Association of Seafood Producers has formally taken legal action against Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture Minister Gerry Byrne and FFAW-Unifor over the delay in determining a pricing formula for snow crab. The ASP has filed an application before the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador, seeking a prerogative order in respect of Byrne’s decision to allow a delay of the decision to be made by the province’s Standing Fish Price-Setting Panel. The decision was already bumped back once to allow representatives to attend the Boston seafood show, considered a key event due to the tariff war, but was bumped back again shortly before the deadline this past weekend. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:47
ASP takes provincial government to court, alleging ‘political interference’ over pushing crab price deadline
The Association of Seafood Producers is accusing the Newfoundland and Labrador government of interfering in the price setting process for the annual snow crab harvest, and it’s launching legal action against the province as well as the Fish, Food and Allied Workers union. The deadline for price setting was April 1, but last week Fisheries Minister Gerry Byrne shifted the date to April 13. According to documents filed at the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador, the ASP has turned to the courts to quash that order. “This matter is urgent. The fishery was to have started on April 1, 2025. The fisheries minister had improperly interfered with the operation of the panel as the purported date change in ultra vires,” wrote lawyer Stephen Penney in the ASP’s application. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 12:06
Trump’s tariffs are fishing sector’s biggest challenge since cod moratorium, minister says
Newfoundland and Labrador’s fishing industry is preparing for life with heavy economic tariffs in place. Fisheries Minister Gerry Byrne is calling this moment the biggest challenge to the industry since the 1992 cod moratorium. “Never since the 1992 moratorium has such a challenge been put before us,” Byrne told reporters on Tuesday. “While all sectors of the economy are affected by our ally’s betrayal, none more so than our fishery.” Ninety-six per cent of snow crab harvested in Newfoundland and Labrador in 2024 was shipped and sold to the United States. But Byrne says it’s unlikely the U.S. market is avoided entirely, and it will likely come down to what markets are willing to pay. “I have absolutely no doubt that even with a 25 per cent tariff, we can indeed sell to the United States. Buyers will buy, consumers will consume, it’s a question of the details,” he said. “U.S. consumers love Newfoundland and Labrador’s snow crab.” Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 17:41
Amid ongoing trade tensions, there’s still no timeline on N.L.’s Boston trade office
A new trade office recently announced by Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey to strengthen commercial relations with New England still isn’t off the ground, as a trade war looms with the United States. Furey announced in September that the provincial government would open a trade office in Boston, located inside the city’s Canadian consulate. Last week, Fisheries Minister Gerry Byrne said the Boston office will play a key role in the province’s navigation of the current economic climate. “One of the key roles of the Boston office [is to] constantly, constantly engage U.S. consumers, U.S. business groups, U.S. congressmen, [U.S.] influencers … to get them to tell the White House that Trump’s decisions are hurting Americans,” Byrne said, appearing on a segment of VOCM’s Open Line. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:29
Seafood sector is united in face of tariff threats, says N.L.’s fisheries minister
A unified effort to navigate the Newfoundland and Labrador seafood industry through the uncertainty of U.S. tariff threats began on Wednesday, with more than two dozen people joining by video conference in the first fishery roundtable meeting. The meeting was chaired by Fisheries Minister Gerry Byrne, who described the discussions as “one of the best meetings I’ve ever hosted.” The meeting was spawned from a broader premier’s roundtable that was assembled last month in response to a threat from U.S. President Donald Trump to place a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian goods entering the U.S. market, including seafood. Joining the meeting were leaders in all sectors of the fishery, including union leaders, processors, harvesters, marketing specialists and the aquaculture industry. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 18:42
Ottawa still hasn’t learned to choose science over politics in the cod fishery, says Gerry Byrne
Newfoundland and Labrador’s fisheries minister says he was disturbed to learn federal Fisheries Minister Diane Lebouthillier ignored the advice of staff in reopening the commercial cod fishery. Gerry Byrne said Tuesday the decision to reopen the fishery, announced in June, wasn’t based on industry science. “The view that we saw was very, very disturbing. It is about politics,” Byrne said Tuesday. “We thought we were at a place where politics would be removed from this decision-making process, because it was politics that brought us here to begin with.” Byrne called the findings a gut punch to those working in the industry and the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:47
The province says an N.L. fish plant was trying to sell rotten crab. The fish plant is snapping back
The owner of a major seafood processing plant in Bay de Verde says major inspection issues are at the root of claims his company was selling rotten crab. Robin Quinlan, president of Quinlan Brothers Ltd., said the accusations are a “very serious misrepresentation of the facts of what had occurred at the facility.” Quinlan told reporters Thursday that independent inspectors had assessed the catches in question and passed them. But when provincial Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture inspectors showed up for a surprise assessment, they deemed those same catches unfit for the market. The company was formally charged last week under the provincial Fish Inspection Act and Fish Inspection Operations Regulations — accused of moving and processing dead snow crab. The four charges are related to two provincial inspections at the plant in May and June. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:34
Quinlan Defends Processing of Disputed Dead Crab Prior to Court Case
One of the largest seafood producers in the province is firing back at the provincial government after the company was charged with processing and transporting dead snow crab. Quinlan Brothers of Bay de Verde was charged with four counts of marketing fish unfit for human consumption following inspections by provincial officials on May 30th and June 29th. But company president Robin Quinlan compares the actions of the inspectors to that of judge, jury and executioner. Quinlan believed the product — about 52,000 pounds of crab with a market value of $500,000 – would be properly stored until he had his day in court. But that was not the case. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 14:44
Nfld. & Labrador to research live seafood cold storage at Gander International, Port aux Basques for International Export
The Department of Fisheries and Land Resources is looking into creating new areas for cold storage of live seafood in the province, allowing more product headed for international markets to come directly from Newfoundland and Labrador. The provincial government announced $100,000 to determine the feasibility of creating cold storage facilities in Port aux Basques and at Gander International Airport Monday. Fisheries Minister Gerry Byrne said the idea is centred around creating cold storage for live products like lobsters and oysters. >click to read< 16:52
CEO of company that recorded 2.6 million dead salmon apologizes to N.L. government
The CEO of Mowi, (Alf-Helge Aarskog), has apologized to the provincial fisheries minister and promised to do better, after 2.6 million salmon were killed on Newfoundland’s south coast, followed by criticism that the company should have been more transparent in disclosing information about the incident. “We did not live up to both your, and our own expectations,” he wrote in a letter to Premier Dwight Ball and Fisheries Minister Gerry Byrne. >click to read< 19:17
Two years after CETA took effect, fisheries minister says Tory exemptions devalued the industry
In 2013, negotiations between Canada and the European Union over the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, or CETA, included talks on how Newfoundland and Labrador might be compensated for losses once the deal was implemented. The provincial PC government of the time insisted on a $400-million compensation program, noted Byrne. “I can certainly understand why they’d take that position,” Byrne said. But that fund never materialized, >click to read<10:56
New Harbour dealt a blow as Daley Brothers decide not to open fish plant for 2018
The Trinity South community of New Harbour is facing an unheard-of predicament, as Daley Brothers has decided not to open the local fish plant for the 2018 harvesting season. News of the company’s intentions began to trickle through the community over the weekend after employees began receiving notices from Daley Brothers informing them of the company’s decision. Reached by The Compass Monday afternoon, provincial Fisheries Minister Gerry Byrne said he first heard from concerned workers on Saturday, April 21. >click to read<09:27
Indigenous leaders raise ‘serious questions’ about multimillion-dollar clam licence
A backlash is growing against a multimillion-dollar federal bid to promote reconciliation and economic development among Indigenous groups in Atlantic Canada and Quebec. A group that represents 13 Mi’kmaq First Nations in Nova Scotia issued a statement Friday saying it is joining politicians in Newfoundland and Labrador to demand Ottawa reverse its recent decision to award a lucrative Arctic surf clam fishing licence to a company based in Cape Breton that claims to have Indigenous partners in all five provinces.,,, “What we know to be true is that this is anything but reconciliation. This has pitted province against province, community against community, and First Nation against First Nation.” >click to read<12:36
FISH-NL questions whether Ottawa purposely is out to eliminate inshore fishery and outports along with it
The Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador (FISH-NL) says Ottawa’s decision to award a new Arctic surf clam licence to East Coast aboriginal groups amounts to Indigenous reconciliation on the backs of inshore harvesters and rural communities.,, “Our inshore harvesters and rural communities should be at the head of the line for any new quotas,” says Ryan Cleary, President of FISH-NL. “Our harvesters are starving for fish, and the feds are taking from the few healthy stocks we have left, and carving them up for groups with no connection to the resource. That’s just wrong.” >click to read< 12:07
