Tag Archives: Seaward Enterprises Association
Pretty over his head: FFAW leader unaware inshore fishery excluded from Competition Act
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.” 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. >click to read< with the letter. 20:35
SEA-NL on Pot to Plate, new program to sell crab at the wharf
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) is encouraging the public to buy live fresh snow crab from inshore enterprises when they land at the wharf, and is preparing a “pot to plate” program to connect boats to buyers province-wide. “The 2023 snow crab price to start the season will be half what it was last year, and the lowest in years, which will hurt every last small-boat enterprise around the province,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director. “SEA-NL is asking the people of the province to step up and buy fresh live North Atlantic snow crab direct from our fishermen and women at a fair price at the wharf.” SEA-NL will consult with owner-operators around the province before recommending a “wharf price” to charge for snow crab and plans to announce a price Thursday. >click to read< 14:05 
SEA-NL calls for review of the panel system for fish pricing
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) says this year’s snow crab fishery had the highest landed value in the province’s history, but there’s evidence inshore harvesters may not have gotten a fair share of market returns. “When the market price of snow crab continued to rise after the final price to inshore harvesters was set at the end of April with no way for harvesters to appeal that price, then the system must be overhauled or scrapped, says Ryan Cleary, interim Executive Director of SEA-NL. “In that light, SEA-NL is asking the Andrew Furey administration to review the panel system of fish pricing.” >click to read< 15:46
Why summer shrimp price should be set at $1.22/lb (which even then may be too low)
The 2021 summer price of shrimp paid to inshore fishermen — either the FFAW’s proposed $1.22/lb or the $1.10/lb offered by processors — is now in the hands of the province’s price setting panel, which, by law, must choose one or the other. That’s even if the “right price” is somewhere in the middle, just as the panel wrote in late April when it set the spring price of shrimp at $1/lb (processors’ price) over the FFAW’s $1.50/lb. The panel system of fish pricing doesn’t work in terms of best possible price to harvesters, but that’s another story. >click to read< 16:00
