Harvesters urged to act now for fishery changes
‘The opportunity is there,’ says Matthew O’leary with Rough Water Traps
Change in the fishery won't be smooth, but Matthew O’leary is ready and willing to tackle the challenge.
O’leary owns and operates Rough Water Traps, a company based in Fox Harbour on the Avalon Peninsula side of Placentia Bay that makes wire lobster traps.
He's also one of those who has applied for and been granted a buyer’s licence after the provincial government agreed to, at the request of harvesters demanding more free enterprise in the fishery earlier this year, open up the fishery to more outside buyers.
'TAKE A DIFFERENT APPROACH'
Other than sea urchins, O’leary can buy any sort of species from local harvesters and connect them to processors outside the province or with any within the province the harvesters may not be currently dealing with.
O’leary said he saw the opportunity open up and decided to give it a shot to see if he could help harvesters have more control over where their catches go.
“I come from a fishing family and, over the years, we've seen a lot of stuff that happened, whether it be directly to us or outside of us,” he said of the plight of harvesters.
“There's a lot of stuff that goes down behind closed doors a lot of people don't know about. … There's too much control towards harvesters and the only way to do it is you've got to get some new guys that are willing to take a different approach.”
FAIR OFFERS, INCENTIVES
O’leary doesn’t want to break the current system. He just wants to help change it.
He said there are processing plants that have significant quotas that won’t be caught.
“It don’t make no sense,” he said.
“Why would somebody get a processing licence if they know they aren’t going to go ahead with it? They should give it to somebody that was actually going to (use) it.”
O’leary has made contact with multiple processors off the island who have expressed
interest in buying products. He’s also spoken with plenty of harvesters who have indicated they want to move their product through him.
He said the processors he’s been dealing with, who he declined to name, have offered fair prices and quality incentives.
“This is a door for them as well as much as it is a door for our harvesters to be able to send that product out,” said O’leary.
“So, it is beneficial to both sides. If not, they wouldn't even be coming here. Somebody sees the potential.”
WORRIES REMAIN
There is still some trepidation, he said, among harvesters who have concerns about a backlash from the local processors they usually deal with.
“They are afraid processors are going to use other species as a threat,” said O’leary.
“Of course, they are. (Processors) are businessmen too and they're afraid. They are genuinely afraid of losing. They're not going to come out and admit it, but I bet you they are.
“If you have a resource all to yourself and, all of a sudden, we were taking away from it, you're going to do everything you can to protect it, aren't you?”
'OPPORTUNITY IS THERE'
O’leary says he, like others who have also secured the buyers' licences that have only recently become available, is doing his part to take the proverbial horse to the water, but now it’s time for harvesters to drink up thensoldution they’ve been asking for.
“The opportunity is there and it's pretty much in the fish harvesters’ hands now to decide if they want to take the chance on it and move the change or stick to the old ways and we'll be back in the same boat again next year,” he said.
GETTING PRODUCT MOVING
O’leary’s main goal is to get product moving. The plan is to truck fresh product off the island through the Marine Atlantic ferry service.
“We don't want it all because that'll affect everybody here,” he said. “That will affect the plant workers. That will affect the truck drivers. There's a whole list of people that would be affected by moving too much, so moving too much is no good either," he said.
“But if you move a fair amount — a lot of (local plants) can't even keep up with the demand … so, why not ship it off to the other plants in Atlantic Canada and see if you can get something to work?”
TIME TO ACT
O’leary is not interested in starting a pricing war for fish products. According to social media reports, the price being offered by local plants recently has been varying from $3 to more than $4 per pound.
He said this is a combative approach by processors that only benefits the select few being offered higher prices. Of course, he said, anyone offered a higher price will likely go to the buyer who’s paying the most
“The majority of harvesters are in the same boat they were two weeks ago,” said O’leary.
Now is the time to act to make the changes harvesters protested for in March come to fruition, he said.
“We can move the volume — the processors that we’re dealing with can handle the volume because the Gulf side isn’t finished, but they’re clewing up,” he said.
“We're also working on
other species as well — not just crab or lobster. They were just a few species that guys were looking for right now.
“In the meantime, we're still working with other processors as far as the United States to move some other products that they are interested in.”
BACKLASH?
O’leary is not concerned about experiencing any backlash himself for trying to play a role in changing how the fishery operates in Newfoundland and Labrador.
“I don't think I'm going to get much from the harvester side of it,” he said. “I think a lot of them are supportive of it. As for the big guys, I wouldn't say I'm afraid of them because I'm just not that type of person, but it'll be interesting and I'm looking forward to it."
He added he’s not one to give up on a challenge.
“Change affects everybody in different ways,” he said. “My goal at the end of the day is to make sure that the harvesters are getting the fair price that they deserve.”
The Telegram asked the provincial government for the latest numbers of applicants and buyer's licences issued as of Monday, April 29, but the number was not provided as of deadline.
GO ONLINE
To see a current list of fish buyers in the province, visit: https://www. gov.nl.ca/ffa/files/listof-all-buyers-licenses2024-april-26.pdf