Tag Archives: Jason Sullivan
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
After a record-breaking year for Atlantic snow crab, facing huge price cuts is ‘worse than the moratorium,’
“It’s going to be worse than the moratorium.” That’s Jason Sullivan’s gut feeling about the upcoming 2023 snow crab fishing season. He has no doubt that the record-breaking prices of 2022 are a thing of the past. There’s talk of prices starting somewhere around $2 a pound, a nearly 70 per cent drop from last year’s starting price of $7.60. Sullivan said that would translate to a huge loss for the provincial economy. “We had a billion-dollar industry and now we’re taking $500 million out of it right away,” said the Bay Bulls fisherman. “That’s going to be devastating, especially for rural areas.” >click to read< 13:02
‘What we’re looking for is a fair shake’: Newfoundland inshore crab fishers resume pop-up protests around St. John’s
They didn’t get a clear answer from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans on Monday, so inshore crab harvesters are holding “pop-up” protests again today, March 28, in St. John’s. Jason Sullivan and the 3L protestors say the crab stocks in the zone should be assessed as one biomass rather than as separate inshore and offshore stocks. That way, the protestors say, the inshore would be treated the same as the offshore fleets, using the same exploitation rate formulas if the crab stocks are growing. >click to read< 14:52
SEA-NL on 3L
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador demands DFO immediately unify inshore and offshore snow crab fishing areas off eastern Newfoundland into a single biomass, and explain to the entire inshore fleet why the department divided them in the first place. “DFO disrespects the entire inshore sector in fishing zone 3L by favouring bigger boats over smaller boats in the same fleet,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director. “DFO must reveal the science behinds its decision to divide the crab fishing zone in the first place,” added Cleary. “The absence of science or questionable science at best tells smaller boat owner-operators the department wants their enterprises eliminated.” >click to read the press release< 08:12
Elections and electronic logbooks; SEA-NL AGM set for Feb. 25th
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) has scheduled its first annual general meeting (AGM) for Saturday, Feb. 25th, at the Albatross Hotel in Gander, and will feature an election for a new president and regional representatives. “Nominations open today for enterprise owners willing to step up for their fleets and the future of the inshore fishery,” says Ryan Cleary, Executive Director of SEA-NL. “The leaders we need must not be bought and paid for or out for themselves but focused on the overall health and direction of the inshore as a whole.” The election of a new SEA-NL president was trigged earlier this month with the resignation of Jason Sullivan, SEA-NL’s first president elected at the 2022 founding convention. >click to read< 08:37
Fisherman seeking to challenge FFAW-Unifor’s election surpasses fundraising goal
Bay Bulls fisherman Jason Sullivan passed his fundraising goal of $25,000 for a legal challenge to the process that led to the FFAW-Unifor’s election of a new president on Jan. 5th. Sullivan was disqualified from running in the FFAW election two days before the vote. He added that the fisherman had a target of $25,000 but is at $50,000 and counting in terms of committed e-transfers. “If we don’t fight this out and make sure, at the very least, we have a fair election, it’s no good complaining when the fishery is in the toilet come April.” >click to read< 15:01
SEA-NL condemns FFAW-Unifor election; union credibility spent
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) condemns the election Thursday of FFAW-Unifor president Greg Pretty, saying the corrupt process undermines faith in democracy, and the union’s ability to hold governments to account. “The election reeked of hypocrisy, and the FFAW’s credibility in this province has been spent,” says Merv Wiseman, a local expert on organizational governance and a member of SEA-NL’s board of directors. “The FFAW cannot hold the federal or provincial governments to account for fisheries management when the union’s own governance is a joke to the very industry it represents.” >click to read the rest< 14:37
Why are NL fishers going out of province to land their catch?
Although Port au Choix has a growing tourism industry, the fish plant is still the focal point of the harbour and it depends significantly on the fishers and their fishing boats to keep it going. The arrival of the summer shrimp fishery would usually mean this port would be buzzing with activity,,, But today, the usual thrum at the wharf is replaced with a murmur, as participants get ready to take the mic. Together, they’re rebuffing this year’s minimum price offered to fishers landing their shrimp at this plant, operated by Ocean Choice International L.P. “I was one of the first ones to land shrimp to this plant,” says long-time Flowers Cove fisher, Ren Genge, stepping up to speak. “I see people here, who were the first to shell that shrimp by hand. I’ve been here for 55 years fishing shrimp, and I’m not about to let three companies take me out of business.” Video, >click to read< 07:46
Days of chopping off fishing boats over; DFO to increase maximum inshore vessel length to 49’11
“The days of chopping off boats are over. This is a massive victory for inshore harvesters in what is now the under 40’ fleet,” says Jason Sullivan, President of SEA-NL, and Bay Bulls-based inshore owner-operator. “We have fought DFO in this province and the FFAW for years to be treated the same as the rest of Atlantic Canada in terms of vessel length, and today we finally have a victory that puts the safety and lives of inshore harvesters first.” The news was announced this morning by Avalon MP Ken McDonald, chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans, who, along with SEA-NL and FISH-NL before it, fought for years to change the vessel-length policy. >click to read< 10:53
Inshore fishing crews think new registry requirements could be about EI claims
A small section of the Canada’s new Fisheries Act, adopted last December, was barely noticed when the legislation was first unveiled. After all, the main purpose of the act was to close the loopholes on controlling agreements, and much of the legal wording was directed to that. However, the requirement for crew lists has created lots of chatter in the fishing community on social media. There’s been some speculation by some that crew lists could be used by other departments, like Employment and Social Development,,, >click to read< 11:39
Coronavirus brings financial and physical worry for fish harvesters
“Whatever way this goes, it’s going to be a very hard year in the fishery, I think, overall,” said Jason Sullivan, a fisherman on the Avalon Peninsula. “There’s no way to sugarcoat that.” He said DFO’s release of the snow crab management plan — which saw an average quota increase of about 10 per cent — has lifted the spirits of some fish harvesters. Still, he figures others are going to have a tough decision to make this year. “If they do open the fishery, and I says ‘well, jeez I’m not going fishing, I don’t feel safe,’ the bank is going to call me and say ‘Jason, why didn’t you make your payments,'” he said. “Do you think they’re really going to care?” >click to read< 16:34
Try, try again: FISH-NL making second push to unseat FFAW
The union, which formed three years ago, has learned from its first failure and adjusted tactics accordingly, said its president. “This has been a long, hard process. and we’ve learned a lot along the way,” said Ryan Cleary. Whereas before FISH-NL spent six weeks campaigning for cards, now it will use the maximum allowed amount of 90 days, submitting the results to the province’s Labour Relations Board on Nov. 8. The board will then verify the submission and rule on whether FISH-NL met the qualifications to trigger a vote among all fish harvesters as to who they want as their union. >click to read< 09:05
FISH-NL: Northern cod fall fishery a circus, breeding unrest and contempt between fishermen and fleets
The Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador (FISH-NL) calls FFAW/Unifor-orchestrated changes to this fall’s northern cod stewardship fishery a circus, and the most divisive to date.
“Make no mistake, the changes to the 2018 management plan came from the FFAW, and they’re breeding unrest and contempt between fishermen and fleets,” says Jason Sullivan, Captain of FISH-Nl’s under 40-foot fleet. The 2018 management plan for the northern cod stewardship fishery off eastern Newfoundland and Labrador (fishing zones 2J,3KL) set the quota at 9,500 tones, and gave inshore harvesters two options >click to read<13:07
FISH-NL reiterates call for province to allow in outside buyers after panel sets 2018 snow crab price at far less than the mainland
The Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador (FISH-NL) says the decision of the Fish Price Setting Panel to set the 2018 price for snow crab at $4.55 a pound — well below the price paid to crab harvesters in the Maritimes — supports the call to open the provincial market to outside buyers. “When you learn the price of crab in Newfoundland and Labrador has been set at $4.55 a pound on the same day that a crab fisherman in Louisbourg, Nova Scotia is paid $6 a pound it’s very disheartening,” says Jason Sullivan, Captain of FISH-NL’s under 40-foot fleet. >click to read<18:24
Lots of inshore issues to talk about at DFO meeting in Shearstown
Wednesday’s meeting in Shearstown for inshore harvesters was filled to the brim with conversation, as the Department of Fisheries and Oceans allowed the event to continue well beyond its planned two-hour duration. The discussion covered an array of topics, from the future of bycatch to qualms about size restrictions for vessels and the potential for oil exploration to harm marine life. Chad Payne, a harvester from Old Perlican, brought up the bycatch issue. He said it seemed wasteful for harvesters to get rid of perfectly good fish,,, >click here to read< 20:36
DFO reviewing cod quota policy after report says it may encourage dangerous fishing
Fisheries and Oceans Canada said it will be taking a long, hard look at its regulations after a report said a few of the department’s policies could be putting pressure on harvesters to fish in dangerous conditions. The report was issued in late November by the Transportation Safety Board after an investigation into the death of four fishermen from Shea Heights whose boat went down in the waters off Cape Spear. click here to read the story 11:32
FISH-NL says DFO has blood on its hands; department policy contributed to deaths of four Shea Heights fishermen in 2016
The Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador (FISH-NL) says a report by the Transportation Safety Board into the death of four fishermen off Cape Spear in September 2016 confirms the tragedy was the result of Department of Fisheries and Oceans policy. “I hope senior management at DFO go home this evening and take a good long look at themselves in the mirror, and then make sure to give their hands a good scrub because there’s blood on them,” says Jason Sullivan, Captain of FISH-NL’s under 40-foot fleet. “People are dying and no one’s held accountable.” click here to read the press release 14:04
FISH-NL – Northern Cod – “Why is DFO setting us up to fail?”
Earlier this year, DFO gave harvesters two options for fishing northern cod off Newfoundland’s east coast and Labrador for 2017: 1) fish the entire season at the weekly limit; or 2) fish only from Sept. 17th-Nov. 30th at double the weekly limit. Harvesters who choose option one, and have one cod IQ (individual quota), can fish with six gill nets. Harvesters who choose option 2, and who have three combined IQs (and many harvesters do), are essentially fishing six times the weekly limit, but are still limited to six gill nets. click here to read the press release 14:11
A Meeting With the Premier.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—Thursday, May 11th, 2017 The Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador (FISH-NL) is pleased that the Dwight Ball administration is onside with a proposal for flexibility in this year’s harvesting rules, including buddying up to help harvesters cut down on expenses. “Governments can’t magically produce more fish, so they must do all they can to make it easier for harvesters to get through the current crisis and keep their heads above water,” says Ryan Cleary, President of FISH-NL, following an hour and a half meeting with the Premier and Fisheries Minister Steve Crocker. “The premier gets that.” The decision on flexibility is ultimately Ottawa’s, but the Ball administration agrees with the measure, whereas the FFAW does not. Click here to read the press release 20:22
