Tag Archives: Snow crab harvest
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
Bering Sea snow crab fishing to resume, but at an ultra-low level to encourage repopulation
After a two-year hiatus forced by low stocks, the Bering Sea snow crab harvest is back on. The decision to reopen the harvest, announced on Oct. 4 by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, is based on signs of recovery in the crab populations. The official harvest opening was Tuesday. Signs of recovery are modest, and so is the allowable catch. The harvest is limited to 4.72 million pounds, a level that is a far cry from the 45-million-pound quota used in the 2020-21 season and similarly large quotas in earlier years. This season’s total allowable catch is the smallest in the history of the fishery, said Mark Stichert, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s Kodiak-based management coordinator for groundfish and shellfish harvests. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 19:40
Crab catch price creeps up and plants ramp up as delayed N.L. harvest enters third week
The protests and the rhetoric have somewhat subsided, and the catch price has improved slightly, as Newfoundland and Labrador’s long delayed and controversy-riddled snow crab harvest enters a third week. “It’s been a very smooth start largely due to the state of readiness that producers have been in now for eight weeks,” Jeff Loder, executive director of the Association of Seafood Producers, said Friday. But there’s rarely smooth sailing in the fishing industry, with tensions continuing to simmer between the ASP and the Fish, Food & Allied Workers union, which represents harvesters and plant workers. Some outstanding issues include trip limits for fishing vessels to ensure an orderly harvest and maintain the highest quality, changes in the long-standing policy,,, >click to read< 17:37
Why Did 11 Billion Alaskan Snow Crabs Suddenly Disappear?
Earlier this month, Alaska announced that it had canceled the entire snow crab harvest for the year. The news heralded a catastrophic population collapse for the animals, in which nine out of ten died out between 2018 to 2021. It’s a terrible development for those who make a living harvesting the crabs in a region of the world that’s warming unusually fast because of its proximity to the North Pole. (Alaska officials also canceled the fall Bristol Bay red king crab harvest for a second year in a row.) This isn’t a small industry; Alaska’s crab fishing is worth more than $200 million a year. The sudden shutdown has left the state, well, shell-shocked. >click to read< 12:04
Snow crab harvest slashed by 40% compared to last season
Crabbers’ fears of diving quota came true with the third-lowest snow crab harvest limit since 2005. The quota cut represents nearly a third of the entire snow crab harvest’s value last year. Between 2005 and 2014, the average price for Bering Sea snow crab was $1.86 per pound. At 40.6 million pounds, it comes to $50.2 million, or 31 percent of last year’s harvest value.In comparison to recent years, the value loss is even higher. Snow crab prices in the 2010s are the highest they’ve ever been; they haven’t dipped below $1.86 per pound since 2010. Last year, snow crab’s $2.37 per pound,,, Read the rest here 09:14
