Not all harvesters happy with union’s crab deal
Season was delayed for nine days after fishermen refused to accept pricing formula selected by province’s price-setting panel
CORNER BROOK — Dana Rice refused to go crab fishing in 2023 because it just wasn’t worth it when he crunched the numbers.
After making four trips from his home in Triton — three to St. John’s and one to Gander — to help fish harvesters get a better share of the fishery, he’s not planning to set his crab pots again this year.
Rice and his partner, Cathy Peddle, were among a small contingent who decided to show up at the Confederation Building in St. John’s on Monday, April 15, despite the fact the large protest that had been planned for the capital was called off the evening before.
Members of Ffaw-unifor, the union that represents Newfoundland and Labrador’s fish harvesters and plant workers, from all across the province had been planning to congregate in St. John’s to demand a resolution to a pricing dispute that had delayed the start of the snow crab fishery.
They also wanted to see progress on the efforts to foster more free enterprise in the fishery in general.
On Sunday evening, the protest was called off after Ffaw-unifor confirmed it had reached a deal on crab pricing with the Association of Seafood Producers (ASP), the organization that represents fish processors in Newfoundland and Labrador.
While the new deal was not exactly being warmly accepted by all of the union membership, according to social media posts being made about it, most of those who made the trek to St. John’s, or were planning to show up, decided to forego any further protestation.
A relatively small crowd did arrive at the Confederation Building early Monday morning anyway to show they are still not happy with the deal struck by the union.
Shortly after 9 a.m., they dispersed.
“If they had that protest there this morning, (harvesters) would have got what they wanted,” Rice said in an interview while on his way back home to Triton. “There was going to be more people there today than was ever to a protest in Newfoundland history, asides from the cod moratorium (in 1992).
“If they had that protest today, they wouldn’t have to straighten anything out. It would have straightened itself out.”
‘JUST CAN’T DO IT’
If he had gone fishing last year, when the guaranteed minimum price was set at $2.20 per pound, Rice estimated he would have only made about $2,000 from the crab fishery. Considering all the costs and effort associated with going fishing, he didn’t think it was worth it.
The new deal struck by the union guarantees crab harvesters no less than $3 per pound, but Rice said it’s still not a fair price.
He said he won’t fish crab for anything less than the $4 or so currently being paid to crab harvesters in Nova Scotia.
“If one place in Canada can pay $4 a pound, they should be able to pay it here,” he said. “I’m not lining no pockets of ASP or government ... I just can’t do it. I’m that frustrated. I wants to give it up, actually. It got me drove.”
Rice will fish for other licences he has, including lobster and cod. He said he’s lucky because he owns everything he has and can decide on his own terms to fish for crab or not.
“I’m 52 and I have never left The Rock for nothing, only a holiday,” he said. “I might as well go and get my foot in the door (with out-of-province work) because this is not going to last and we’re eventually going to get squeezed out of this fishery. That’s coming very soon.”
DISAPPOINTING TURNOUT
Peddle doesn’t fish or own an enterprise, but grew up around the fishery and wants her grandchildren to experience this way of life.
That’s why she has been vocal in support of harvesters fighting for a better share and was disappointed more people didn’t join them at the Confederation Building on Monday morning.
“My fight is for my grandkids, my fight is for my family and for Newfoundland because I know what I grew up in and it was a wonderful childhood,” she said. “Now, you’re seeing nothing but disaster and destruction, and freedom being taking away for everybody.”
She says the union should have presented the deal it signed to the membership before agreeing to it.
“These people are supposed to be working for harvesters and plant workers,” she said. “The union should not go ahead and sign papers without coming to the people they are working for. Who are they to make this agreement?”
‘A GOOD DAY’
In a news release issued late Sunday, Ffaw-unifor president Greg Pretty called the deal “an historic pricing agreement for harvesters in our province, restoring fairness in the crab fishery and giving harvesters a sharing arrangement they have not seen in a long time.”
ASP executive director Jeff Loder said it was important for both sides to find a resolution to get the crab fishery going after losing more than a week of fishing.
“We were very concerned about the implications for our workers,” Loder said in an interview on Monday. “Plant workers need to work, have a right to work, and we have communities that rely on processing.”
Loder said getting the fishery going helps give stability to a fishing industry that needs it. There was a six-week delayed start to the 2023 season because of a pricing dispute that fuelled the tension leading up to this season.
“This is a good day for Newfoundland and Labrador, this is a very good day for rural Newfoundland, this is a very good day for plant workers and it’s a good day for harvesters and processors,” he said.
STABILIZING INDUSTRY
While crab pots may be hitting the water, there is still work to be done to further stabilize the fishery.
Both the union and the processors will be entitled to reconsider the pricing formula being used if there is an unexpected crash or a boom in the market price.
Harvesters are also trying to figure out if any buyers for their products from outside the ASP have been approved by the provincial government, which has opened the door to outside buyers to apply.
The new agreement was also signed without prejudice, meaning that both the union and the ASP are not tied to it when they return to the negotiating table to set a minimum price for next year.
“I’m optimistic, with this new agreement, that we will be in a much better position next year,” said Loder. “There will be a review of this, we will continue to examine it and we need to learn from the lessons of previous years, this year included, and continue to work together and try to make sure we’re focused on creating value, as opposed to what we’ve been doing the last few years, which is arguing over sharing value and different things.”