After a tentative agreement between Newfoundland and Labrador crab fishermen and processors fell apart, the province’s harvesters are left wondering when — or if — they’ll get back out on the water.
St. John’s crab fisherman Keith Boland said he and his fellow harvesters won’t accept a deal that sticks to $2.20 per pound, as decided by the provincial price-setting panel.
“The $2.20 is still the major issue, and it will be, time going forward,” he said.
On Friday, Fish Food & Allied Workers president Greg Pretty said a tentative deal had been reached with the Association of Seafood Producers: the $2.20 price would be locked in for the season, rather than the association requesting a lower price if the market continues to decline.
But to prevent a glut of crab arriving at plants for processing, the deal would also include trip limits, with monetary penalties for fisherman who catch more than the trip limit. Calling it a union “slush fund,” Boland said fishermen won’t accept that.
“It’s all bad enough at $2.20 a pound,” he said. “We come in with 200 pounds over and now we gotta write a cheque to the union, so apparently that wasn’t going to fly.”
Provincial Fisheries Minister Derrick Bragg said Monday afternoon he was disappointed to see a second tentative deal go down the drain.
“I’m at a loss to where we go from here, to be honest,” he said, adding a “cooling-off” period might improve the situation.
“I’m assuming that Mr. Pretty is deflated as what we are and ASP is,” he said. “When they’re ready, we’re ready to be back and involved, bringing a mediator if we need to.”
Provincial Opposition leader David Brazil said Monday that the government needs to be more involved, and more open about what’s been happening with negotiations.
“We’re into Week 3 now without this vital fishery being active here,” he said. “Why it went off the rails, we’re not really sure because we’re not privy to that. We don’t know, and the minister and the premier hasn’t been sharing the information of exactly, you know, who’s at the table, what the discussions are, what’s the biggest stumbling block here.”