Fishermen in southeastern New Brunswick continue their protests today on the Acadian Peninsula.
They say while southeastern processing plants have stopped processing cheap American lobster, northern processors now are.
All the processors in southern New Brunswick agreed not to do it process it where the ones up north are processing it now, Blane Daigle, a fishermen out of St. Louis de Kent, said.
So we’re hoping that by closing this shop, we might be able to get our brothers, the fishermen in Zone 23, to help us close those shops and we’ll be more unionized again.
A glut of American lobster has driven the price down to about $2 per pound.
They are demanding a minimum price of $4 a pound for the lobster they are hoping to catch when the season opens.
Last week, fishermen set up blockades and closed several fish processing plants in the southeast, in some cases tractor trailer loads of Maine lobster couldn’t unload and had to turn around.
Fishermen are upset with the deal that was reached Friday between the Maritime Fishermen’s Union, fish processing plants and New Brunswick’s Fisheries Minister Michael Olscamp.
They settled on $2.50 for canners and $3 for markets, and a promise of compensation from the province.
Daigle says that’s unacceptable and he wouldn’t be able to survive.
Zone 25 fishermen are disappointed with the union, saying it hasn’t done enough to help them.
Yesterday, about 150 fishermen visited the homes of some N.B. politicians.
Today, fishermen headed for the processing plant in Neguac.
Daigle says all of the fishermen in the southeast have agreed not to go out on Thursday when the season opens unless something changes.
Meanwhile, a P.E.I. lobster plant reached a deal with local fishermen who launched a blockade Tuesday morning over a dispute about processing lobster from Maine.
Island fishermen have agreed that the South Shore Seafood plant can complete the processing of lobster currently in the plant, and the owners have agreed not to bring in any more for now.
CBC 2012