Tag Archives: Pacific Group
On Strike!! West Coast Dungeness crab fleet remains tied up, Vow to Continue Fight for $3 Per Pound Wholesale Prices
From the Humboldt Fishermen’s Marketing Association: As of 10:00 AM January 2, 2017 the West Coast Dungeness crab fleet remains tied up. Nearly 1200 boats, captains and crews are holding coast wide for re-establishment of the $3.00/pound price for Dungeness Crabs. Background On Monday, December 26, 2016, one very large West Coast fishing industry conglomerate (Pacific Group) instructed its subsidiary Pacific Choice Seafood in Eureka, California to reduce the price paid to fishermen for Dungeness crabs from $3.00 per pound to $2.75 per pound. This attempt to lower the ex-vessel price for crabs was scheduled to take place upon the opening of District 7 (Point Arena to Humboldt Bay) on California’s Northern Coast. Many fishermen believed that Pacific Group picked what was perceived as the weak link in West Coast fishing communities as a way of causing cascading price reductions in all West Coast ports that are fishing crabs north of San Francisco. Other companies buying Dungeness crabs were taken by surprise by Pacific Group’s move to reduce prices paid to fishermen. Read the rest of the story here 18:51
Crab price spat delays season – Fishermen in District 7 not fishing until the buyer offers the original $3
Negotiations with Pacific Group failed to secure an acceptable price range for local crab fisherman in District 7, stretching from Humboldt Bay’s North Jetty to Point Arena in Mendocino. Crab prices have been set $3 a pound since the November opening of the season. Pacific Group, which owns Pacific Choice Seafood in Humboldt County, has proposed crab prices be reduced to $2.75 per pound. According to Ken Bates, vice president of the Humboldt Fishermen’s Marketing Association, if fisherman decided to fish for less, local boats would lose between $7,000 to $10,000 for the average medium to small boat. “Fisherman representatives have been meeting all (Tuesday) afternoon in Newport, Oregon, and as of 4 p.m. there have not been any resolutions. We may continue (Wednesday) and there’s a possibility that the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife will set a mediation, which is a compromised price on the crab,” Bates said. “The buyer wanted to drop the price and attempted to lower it by 25 cents.” Read the story here 13:53
