THURSDAY, SEPT. 28TH, 2023
Late-season EI changes increase risk
for inshore harvesters: SEA-NL
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) is calling on Ottawa to revisit late-season changes to Employment Insurance eligibility requirements on the grounds they expose the inshore fleet to greater risk at sea.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6th, 2023
SEA-NL questions what Furey government has against fishermen; digging deeper into fishery crisis
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) says for the second year in a row the Andrew Furey government has announced a review of the fish price-setting system that does not include direct consultations with the inshore fleet.
TUESDAY, AUGUST 29th, 2023
Licence holders encouraged to step forward if not in control of boat/licences; DFO investigating
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) encourages inshore owner-operators who have lost control of their commercial licences or fishing enterprise to contact Fisheries and Oceans, which is actively investigating several cases
THURSDAY, JUNE 15th, 2023
Conservation must trump profit; SEA-NL calls on DFO to close window on high-grading in crab fishery
Seaward Enterprises Associations of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) has called on the federal minister of Fisheries and Oceans to take immediate action to close a window that’s been opened by processors/buyers to allow for high-grading in the snow crab fishery.
MONDAY, MAY 29th, 2023
Trouble brewing if Royal Greenland doesn’t start buying crab from under 40: SEA-NL
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) says enterprise owners in the under 40’ fleet warn there will be trouble if Quin-Sea/Royal Greenland doesn’t start buying snow crab from them, and processing companies are not reined in.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 24th, 2023
SEA-NL relaunches Pot to Plate; public encouraged to buy snow crab from inshore boats at the wharf
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) has relaunched its Pot to Plate program to connect inshore boats directly with the public interested in buying snow crab for personal consumption.
THURSDAY, MAY 18th, 2023
Pretty over his head; FFAW leader unaware inshore fishery excluded from federal Competition Act
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) accuses the president of the FFAW- Unifor of being in over his head in calling for the Competition Bureau of Canada to investigate the inshore fishery when much of it is excluded from the federal act.
Tuesday, May 9th, 2023
Dedicated search and rescue air base
for Labrador one step closer: SEA-NL
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) congratulates board member Merv Wiseman for spearheading a resolution approved this past weekend by the Liberal Party of Canada to designate a search and rescue (SAR) air base for Labrador.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, May 5th, 2023
SEA-NL demands province intervene
in northern shrimp ‘hostage situation’
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) demands the provincial government immediately intervene in the case of two shrimp boats from Port au Choix that are being denied ice from local supplies because they plan to sell their catches in New Brunswick.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 3rd, 2023
SEA-NL demands province order ‘serious’, sweeping review of fish-price setting system
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) demands the provincial government order a “serious” and sweeping investigation into the broken fish price-setting system after last year’s token review failed to fix it.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19th, 2023
More cracks appear in government-controlled fish-pricing system; SEA-NL demands review of lobster-pricing formula
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) demands the province review the way lobster is priced to the inshore fleet to determine whether enterprise owners are getting fair market return.
Frustration to embarrassment to shame, patience lost with DFO science: SEA-NL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, Feb. 10, 2023
Frustration to embarrassment to shame, patience lost with DFO science: SEA-NL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, Feb. 10, 2023
Frustration to embarrassment to shame, patience lost with DFO science: SEA-NL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, Feb. 10, 2023
Frustration to embarrassment to shame, patience lost with DFO science: SEA-NL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, Feb. 10, 2023
SEA-NL calls on DFO to delay mandatory introduction of electronic logbooks
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, March 3rd, 2023
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) is calling on Fisheries and Oceans to delay the mandatory introduction of electronic logbooks (ELOGS) until concerns are addressed about the security of personal information and commercial catch data.
“Red flags have been raised over the security of highly valuable catch data and personal information,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director. “The federal government must ensure Canadians that the country’s food supply is secure, commercial sensitive catch data will remain with owner-operators and fleets, and that individual privacy is protected.”
The federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) has said ELOGs — an application downloaded to an enterprise owner’s cellphone or computer device — will be mandatory starting in 2024, and will allow the department to collect more timely and accurate catch data.
Instead of writing catch information into a more traditional paper logbook — which must be submitted to DFO at the end of a season, and the data manually inputted — owner-operators, for example, would type data into the ELOG on their cell while at sea.
The information would be sent directly to DFO when the device is within range.
The ELOGS, which are available now on a voluntary basis, currently collect catch data on lobster and snow crab at a cost of between $60-$65 a year per species. That cost will rise, however, as more species are added — including cod as early as this summer.
DFO did not develop the ELOG technology, but farmed it out to third-party developers as a “tremendous opportunity” given the market of 80,000 commercial fishing licenses across Canada.
Concerns have been raised with SEA-NL about how DFO will use the information collected, as well as over the security of commercial sensitive catch data collected by private companies on commercial fisheries.
“It’s not good enough that DFO has left it to the private companies selling ELOGS to answer questions,” said Cleary.
“Equally as concerning is that DFO is ramming the technology down the throats of enterprise owners and expecting them to pay the full cost, and who knows that will be when all is said and done,” said Pam Patten, President of SEA-NL.
DFO has certified two companies — Jobel, a Quebec-based non-profit company owned by a fishermen's organization there, and Vericatch, a British Columbia-based private-sector company — to sell the applications.
Jobel's software application is for lobster only, while Vericatch's software is for lobster and snow crab.
While Jobel has been endorsed by the FFAW-Unifor, Vericatch’s senior manager of business development is Robert Keenan, the union's former secretary-treasurer.
Keenan has been holding meetings around the province, and was in Gander last weekend, Feb. 25th, to give a presentation to SEA-NL's AGM.
DFO was asked to send a representative to speak on ELOGS, but the department declined.
-30-
SEA-NL calls for elimination of province’s farcical system of fish pricing before fisheries lost
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Friday, July 15, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) is calling for the elimination of the provincial government's final-offer system of fish pricing in favour of direct negotiations between the union and processors until contracts are hammered out that both sides respect.
“There is no point in government being involved in negotiating the price of fish when its appointed panel does not have the power to enforce one price or the other, and its decisions do not result in commercial fisheries,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director.
“The existing system has collapsed with processors refusing to buy for the prices that are set, and inshore fleets remaining tied to the wharf,” he added. “Both sides must stick it out at the negotiating table until a contract is hammered out like with any other collective agreement.”
Under the final-offer selection system of fish pricing, a provincial government-appointed panel steps in when the FFAW-Unifor, and Association of Seafood Producers can’t reach a deal on the price of a particular species.
The panel must choose one price or the other, with its final decision “binding” on both sides. However, most prices set by the panel to date this year have not resulted in fisheries, as is the case with northern shrimp, sea cucumber, east coast capelin, and likely squid.
In the case of snow crab, processors have attempted to pay far less than the panel price of $6.15/lb by charging owner-operators for services like transportation that in precious years were covered by the negotiated price.
Speculation is processors haven't made a killing at snow crab this year like they did in 2021, and are squeezing every last cent from every other price.
“Government must move immediately or a number of fisheries may not happen this year, which will be devastating to the inshore fleet and our rural communities,” Cleary said. “In the longer term government must be open to outside buyers.”
-30-
FFAW-Unifor election ‘democratic farce’: SEA-NL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Friday, Aug. 19th, 2022
Frustration to embarrassment to shame, patience lost with DFO science: SEA-NL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, Feb. 10, 2023
Frustration to embarrassment to shame, patience lost with DFO science: SEA-NL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, Feb. 10, 2023
Frustration to embarrassment to shame, patience lost with DFO science: SEA-NL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, Feb. 10, 2023
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) says continued cancellations and delays of critical assessments that survey the health of major fish stocks like northern cod have turned Fisheries and Oceans science into a Canadian shame.
​
“We’re past the point of frustration and embarrassment with DFO science; it’s now Canada’s shame,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director.
​
DFO’s science director for the province released a letter Thursday afternoon informing fishing industry representatives that the Canadian Coast Guard science ship Alfred Needler has been deemed “beyond repair” and decommissioned.
​
That’s only five months earlier than planned, but the impact on DFO’s science program is huge because the aging ship was needed to help bring two new science vessels into service.
​
That happens through comparative fishing, when an older vessel trawls alongside a new one — a critical step to calibrate differences between ships in trawl performance and ensure the continuity of DFO data.
​
“That continuity has been broken with the early loss of the Needler,” said Cleary. “DFO must clearly explain the consequences for its science program and future stock assessments.”
​
DFO also revealed Thursday there would be no 2023 assessment of northern cod for the second year (this is year 31 of the moratorium). The shrimp stock off southern Labrador and northeastern Newfoundland, the stock primarily fished by the inshore fleet in shrimp fishing areas 5 and 6, also won’t be assessed this year.
​
Frustration to embarrassment to shame, patience lost with DFO science: SEA-NL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, Feb. 10, 2023
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) says continued cancellations and delays of critical assessments that survey the health of major fish stocks like northern cod have turned Fisheries and Oceans science into a Canadian shame.
​
“We’re past the point of frustration and embarrassment with DFO science; it’s now Canada’s shame,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director.
​
DFO’s science director for the province released a letter Thursday afternoon informing fishing industry representatives that the Canadian Coast Guard science ship Alfred Needler has been deemed “beyond repair” and decommissioned.
​
That’s only five months earlier than planned, but the impact on DFO’s science program is huge because the aging ship was needed to help bring two new science vessels into service.
​
That happens through comparative fishing, when an older vessel trawls alongside a new one — a critical step to calibrate differences between ships in trawl performance and ensure the continuity of DFO data.
​
“That continuity has been broken with the early loss of the Needler,” said Cleary. “DFO must clearly explain the consequences for its science program and future stock assessments.”
​
DFO also revealed Thursday there would be no 2023 assessment of northern cod for the second year (this is year 31 of the moratorium). The shrimp stock off southern Labrador and northeastern
Frustration to embarrassment to shame, patience lost with DFO science: SEA-NL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, Feb. 10, 2023
SEA-NL elects new President, first woman leader of fisheries organization in province’s history
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, Feb. 27th, 2023
Fortune-based inshore enterprise owner Pamela Patten has been elected President of Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL), believed to be the first woman to lead a fisheries organization in the province’s history.
“As a woman I will obviously bring a slightly different perspective to the table, but my role will be to unite owner-operators around the province regardless of fleet or gender,” says Patten, who runs the Bradley Venture, a 39’11 longliner that primarily fishes snow crab and lobster.
Patten, a mother of four, has been an enterprise owner for 11 years, and a fisher person for 22. She was elected President during SEA-NL’s AGM this past Saturday, Feb. 25th in Gander, and replaces Bay Bulls enterprise owner Jason Sullivan.
During the AGM SEA-NL passed five policy resolutions, including a call for Ottawa to lift the moratorium on Atlantic mackerel in 2023, and set a quota at least equal to the U.S. quota for the same stock; for the feds to provide a detailed action plan within six months to deal with seal populations throughout Canada; for the Prime Minister to take a stronger stand against foreign overfishing; and for the Government of Canada to order an independent external review of DFO science/management in the NL Region.
SEA-NL is a professional, non-profit association that serves as the distinct voice of licensed, independent, inshore owner-operator fish harvesters in the province.
-30-
SEA-NL calls for elimination of province’s farcical system of fish pricing before fisheries lost
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Friday, July 15, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) is calling for the elimination of the provincial government's final-offer system of fish pricing in favour of direct negotiations between the union and processors until contracts are hammered out that both sides respect.
“There is no point in government being involved in negotiating the price of fish when its appointed panel does not have the power to enforce one price or the other, and its decisions do not result in commercial fisheries,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director.
“The existing system has collapsed with processors refusing to buy for the prices that are set, and inshore fleets remaining tied to the wharf,” he added. “Both sides must stick it out at the negotiating table until a contract is hammered out like with any other collective agreement.”
Under the final-offer selection system of fish pricing, a provincial government-appointed panel steps in when the FFAW-Unifor, and Association of Seafood Producers can’t reach a deal on the price of a particular species.
The panel must choose one price or the other, with its final decision “binding” on both sides. However, most prices set by the panel to date this year have not resulted in fisheries, as is the case with northern shrimp, sea cucumber, east coast capelin, and likely squid.
In the case of snow crab, processors have attempted to pay far less than the panel price of $6.15/lb by charging owner-operators for services like transportation that in precious years were covered by the negotiated price.
Speculation is processors haven't made a killing at snow crab this year like they did in 2021, and are squeezing every last cent from every other price.
“Government must move immediately or a number of fisheries may not happen this year, which will be devastating to the inshore fleet and our rural communities,” Cleary said. “In the longer term government must be open to outside buyers.”
-30-
FFAW-Unifor election ‘democratic farce’: SEA-NL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Friday, Aug. 19th, 2022
SEA-NL calls on Ottawa to lift mackerel moratorium; at least match U.S. quota for 2023
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, Feb. 2nd, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) is calling on Fisheries and Oceans to lift the moratorium on Atlantic mackerel in 2023, and set a quota at least equal to the total allowable catch (TAC) set this week by the United States.
“It’s a senseless sacrifice for Canadian mackerel fishermen to remain under a moratorium when their U.S. cousins have never stopped fishing,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director.
The CBC reports that earlier this week the United States set the 2023 TAC for Atlantic mackerel at 3,639 tonnes, a 27% decrease from that country's 2022 quota of 4,963 tonnes.
Meanwhile, Canada slapped a moratorium on the same Atlantic mackerel stock last year, and Ottawa has yet to announced whether there will be a commercial fishery this year.
SEA-NL first called on Ottawa in late December to lift the moratorium on Atlantic mackerel for 2023, and set a quota to at least match what U.S. fishermen are allowed to fish.
DFO's science on Atlantic mackerel has been relatively weak, with even less data without fishermen on the water.
Fishermen reported unprecedented schools of mackerel along Newfoundland’s northeast coast right up to January, with pictures posted all over social media of dead or dying fish washed up on beaches.
Enterprise owners speculate cold water temperatures killed the mackerel. DFO would not allow the fish to be collected for bait.
SEA-NL has also called on DFO to allow enterprise owners to renew the licenses regardless of whether there's a moratorium or not. Ottawa has refused.
-30-
Frustration to embarrassment to shame, patience lost with DFO science: SEA-NL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, Feb. 10, 2023
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) says continued cancellations and delays of critical assessments that survey the health of major fish stocks like northern cod have turned Fisheries and Oceans science into a Canadian shame.
​
“We’re past the point of frustration and embarrassment with DFO science; it’s now Canada’s shame,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director.
​
DFO’s science director for the province released a letter Thursday afternoon informing fishing industry representatives that the Canadian Coast Guard science ship Alfred Needler has been deemed “beyond repair” and decommissioned.
​
That’s only five months earlier than planned, but the impact on DFO’s science program is huge because the aging ship was needed to help bring two new science vessels into service.
​
That happens through comparative fishing, when an older vessel trawls alongside a new one — a critical step to calibrate differences between ships in trawl performance and ensure the continuity of DFO data.
​
“That continuity has been broken with the early loss of the Needler,” said Cleary. “DFO must clearly explain the consequences for its science program and future stock assessments.”
​
DFO also revealed Thursday there would be no 2023 assessment of northern cod for the second year (this is year 31 of the moratorium). The shrimp stock off southern Labrador and northeastern Newfoundland, the stock primarily fished by the inshore fleet in shrimp fishing areas 5 and 6, also won’t be assessed this year.
​
Breakdowns, unplanned maintenance and refits on both new and old fisheries science vessels — on top of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic — have led to the cancellation of numerous stock assessments going back to 2020.
​
“Poor science translates into bad management, and that’s exactly where we are right now,” said Cleary.
-30-
SEA-NL calls for elimination of province’s farcical system of fish pricing before fisheries lost
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Friday, July 15, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) is calling for the elimination of the provincial government's final-offer system of fish pricing in favour of direct negotiations between the union and processors until contracts are hammered out that both sides respect.
“There is no point in government being involved in negotiating the price of fish when its appointed panel does not have the power to enforce one price or the other, and its decisions do not result in commercial fisheries,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director.
“The existing system has collapsed with processors refusing to buy for the prices that are set, and inshore fleets remaining tied to the wharf,” he added. “Both sides must stick it out at the negotiating table until a contract is hammered out like with any other collective agreement.”
Under the final-offer selection system of fish pricing, a provincial government-appointed panel steps in when the FFAW-Unifor, and Association of Seafood Producers can’t reach a deal on the price of a particular species.
The panel must choose one price or the other, with its final decision “binding” on both sides. However, most prices set by the panel to date this year have not resulted in fisheries, as is the case with northern shrimp, sea cucumber, east coast capelin, and likely squid.
In the case of snow crab, processors have attempted to pay far less than the panel price of $6.15/lb by charging owner-operators for services like transportation that in precious years were covered by the negotiated price.
Speculation is processors haven't made a killing at snow crab this year like they did in 2021, and are squeezing every last cent from every other price.
“Government must move immediately or a number of fisheries may not happen this year, which will be devastating to the inshore fleet and our rural communities,” Cleary said. “In the longer term government must be open to outside buyers.”
-30-
FFAW-Unifor election ‘democratic farce’: SEA-NL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Friday, Aug. 19th, 2022
Frustration to embarrassment to shame, patience lost with DFO science: SEA-NL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, Feb. 10, 2023
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) says continued cancellations and delays of critical assessments that survey the health of major fish stocks like northern cod have turned Fisheries and Oceans science into a Canadian shame.
​
“We’re past the point of frustration and embarrassment with DFO science; it’s now Canada’s shame,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director.
​
DFO’s science director for the province released a letter Thursday afternoon informing fishing industry representatives that the Canadian Coast Guard science ship Alfred Needler has been deemed “beyond repair” and decommissioned.
​
That’s only five months earlier than planned, but the impact on DFO’s science program is huge because the aging ship was needed to help bring two new science vessels into service.
​
That happens through comparative fishing, when an older vessel trawls alongside a new one — a critical step to calibrate differences between ships in trawl performance and ensure the continuity of DFO data.
​
“That continuity has been broken with the early loss of the Needler,” said Cleary. “DFO must clearly explain the consequences for its science program and future stock assessments.”
​
DFO also revealed Thursday there would be no 2023 assessment of northern cod for the second year (this is year 31 of the moratorium). The shrimp stock off southern Labrador and northeastern Newfoundland, the stock primarily fished by the inshore fleet in shrimp fishing areas 5 and 6, also won’t be assessed this year.
​
Breakdowns, unplanned maintenance and refits on both new and old fisheries science vessels — on top of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic — have led to the cancellation of numerous stock assessments going back to 2020.
​
“Poor science translates into bad management, and that’s exactly where we are right now,” said Cleary.
-30-
Frustration to embarrassment to shame, patience lost with DFO science: SEA-NL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, Feb. 10, 2023
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) says continued cancellations and delays of critical assessments that survey the health of major fish stocks like northern cod have turned Fisheries and Oceans science into a Canadian shame.
​
“We’re past the point of frustration and embarrassment with DFO science; it’s now Canada’s shame,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director.
​
DFO’s science director for the province released a letter Thursday afternoon informing fishing industry representatives that the Canadian Coast Guard science ship Alfred Needler has been deemed “beyond repair” and decommissioned.
​
That’s only five months earlier than planned, but the impact on DFO’s science program is huge because the aging ship was needed to help bring two new science vessels into service.
​
That happens through comparative fishing, when an older vessel trawls alongside a new one — a critical step to calibrate differences between ships in trawl performance and ensure the continuity of DFO data.
​
“That continuity has been broken with the early loss of the Needler,” said Cleary. “DFO must clearly explain the consequences for its science program and future stock assessments.”
​
DFO also revealed Thursday there would be no 2023 assessment of northern cod for the second year (this is year 31 of the moratorium). The shrimp stock off southern Labrador and northeastern Newfoundland, the stock primarily fished by the inshore fleet in shrimp fishing areas 5 and 6, also won’t be assessed this year.
​
Breakdowns, unplanned maintenance and refits on both new and old fisheries science vessels — on top of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic — have led to the cancellation of numerous stock assessments going back to 2020.
​
“Poor science translates into bad management, and that’s exactly where we are right now,” said Cleary.
-30-
Frustration to embarrassment to shame, patience lost with DFO science: SEA-NL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, Feb. 10, 2023
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) says continued cancellations and delays of critical assessments that survey the health of major fish stocks like northern cod have turned Fisheries and Oceans science into a Canadian shame.
​
“We’re past the point of frustration and embarrassment with DFO science; it’s now Canada’s shame,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director.
​
DFO’s science director for the province released a letter Thursday afternoon informing fishing industry representatives that the Canadian Coast Guard science ship Alfred Needler has been deemed “beyond repair” and decommissioned.
​
That’s only five months earlier than planned, but the impact on DFO’s science program is huge because the aging ship was needed to help bring two new science vessels into service.
​
That happens through comparative fishing, when an older vessel trawls alongside a new one — a critical step to calibrate differences between ships in trawl performance and ensure the continuity of DFO data.
​
“That continuity has been broken with the early loss of the Needler,” said Cleary. “DFO must clearly explain the consequences for its science program and future stock assessments.”
​
DFO also revealed Thursday there would be no 2023 assessment of northern cod for the second year (this is year 31 of the moratorium). The shrimp stock off southern Labrador and northeastern Newfoundland, the stock primarily fished by the inshore fleet in shrimp fishing areas 5 and 6, also won’t be assessed this year.
​
Breakdowns, unplanned maintenance and refits on both new and old fisheries science vessels — on top of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic — have led to the cancellation of numerous stock assessments going back to 2020.
​
“Poor science translates into bad management, and that’s exactly where we are right now,” said Cleary.
-30-
Frustration to embarrassment to shame, patience lost with DFO science: SEA-NL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, Feb. 10, 2023
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) says continued cancellations and delays of critical assessments that survey the health of major fish stocks like northern cod have turned Fisheries and Oceans science into a Canadian shame.
​
“We’re past the point of frustration and embarrassment with DFO science; it’s now Canada’s shame,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director.
​
DFO’s science director for the province released a letter Thursday afternoon informing fishing industry representatives that the Canadian Coast Guard science ship Alfred Needler has been deemed “beyond repair” and decommissioned.
​
That’s only five months earlier than planned, but the impact on DFO’s science program is huge because the aging ship was needed to help bring two new science vessels into service.
​
That happens through comparative fishing, when an older vessel trawls alongside a new one — a critical step to calibrate differences between ships in trawl performance and ensure the continuity of DFO data.
​
“That continuity has been broken with the early loss of the Needler,” said Cleary. “DFO must clearly explain the consequences for its science program and future stock assessments.”
​
DFO also revealed Thursday there would be no 2023 assessment of northern cod for the second year (this is year 31 of the moratorium). The shrimp stock off southern Labrador and northeastern Newfoundland, the stock primarily fished by the inshore fleet in shrimp fishing areas 5 and 6, also won’t be assessed this year.
​
Breakdowns, unplanned maintenance and refits on both new and old fisheries science vessels — on top of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic — have led to the cancellation of numerous stock assessments going back to 2020.
​
“Poor science translates into bad management, and that’s exactly where we are right now,” said Cleary.
-30-
Frustration to embarrassment to shame, patience lost with DFO science: SEA-NL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, Feb. 10, 2023
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) says continued cancellations and delays of critical assessments that survey the health of major fish stocks like northern cod have turned Fisheries and Oceans science into a Canadian shame.
​
“We’re past the point of frustration and embarrassment with DFO science; it’s now Canada’s shame,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director.
​
DFO’s science director for the province released a letter Thursday afternoon informing fishing industry representatives that the Canadian Coast Guard science ship Alfred Needler has been deemed “beyond repair” and decommissioned.
​
That’s only five months earlier than planned, but the impact on DFO’s science program is huge because the aging ship was needed to help bring two new science vessels into service.
​
That happens through comparative fishing, when an older vessel trawls alongside a new one — a critical step to calibrate differences between ships in trawl performance and ensure the continuity of DFO data.
​
“That continuity has been broken with the early loss of the Needler,” said Cleary. “DFO must clearly explain the consequences for its science program and future stock assessments.”
​
DFO also revealed Thursday there would be no 2023 assessment of northern cod for the second year (this is year 31 of the moratorium). The shrimp stock off southern Labrador and northeastern Newfoundland, the stock primarily fished by the inshore fleet in shrimp fishing areas 5 and 6, also won’t be assessed this year.
​
Breakdowns, unplanned maintenance and refits on both new and old fisheries science vessels — on top of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic — have led to the cancellation of numerous stock assessments going back to 2020.
​
“Poor science translates into bad management, and that’s exactly where we are right now,” said Cleary.
-30-
Frustration to embarrassment to shame, patience lost with DFO science: SEA-NL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, Feb. 10, 2023
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) says continued cancellations and delays of critical assessments that survey the health of major fish stocks like northern cod have turned Fisheries and Oceans science into a Canadian shame.
​
“We’re past the point of frustration and embarrassment with DFO science; it’s now Canada’s shame,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director.
​
DFO’s science director for the province released a letter Thursday afternoon informing fishing industry representatives that the Canadian Coast Guard science ship Alfred Needler has been deemed “beyond repair” and decommissioned.
​
That’s only five months earlier than planned, but the impact on DFO’s science program is huge because the aging ship was needed to help bring two new science vessels into service.
​
That happens through comparative fishing, when an older vessel trawls alongside a new one — a critical step to calibrate differences between ships in trawl performance and ensure the continuity of DFO data.
​
“That continuity has been broken with the early loss of the Needler,” said Cleary. “DFO must clearly explain the consequences for its science program and future stock assessments.”
​
DFO also revealed Thursday there would be no 2023 assessment of northern cod for the second year (this is year 31 of the moratorium). The shrimp stock off southern Labrador and northeastern Newfoundland, the stock primarily fished by the inshore fleet in shrimp fishing areas 5 and 6, also won’t be assessed this year.
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Breakdowns, unplanned maintenance and refits on both new and old fisheries science vessels — on top of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic — have led to the cancellation of numerous stock assessments going back to 2020.
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“Poor science translates into bad management, and that’s exactly where we are right now,” said Cleary.
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SEA-NL calls for elimination of province’s farcical system of fish pricing before fisheries lost
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Friday, July 15, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) is calling for the elimination of the provincial government's final-offer system of fish pricing in favour of direct negotiations between the union and processors until contracts are hammered out that both sides respect.
“There is no point in government being involved in negotiating the price of fish when its appointed panel does not have the power to enforce one price or the other, and its decisions do not result in commercial fisheries,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director.
“The existing system has collapsed with processors refusing to buy for the prices that are set, and inshore fleets remaining tied to the wharf,” he added. “Both sides must stick it out at the negotiating table until a contract is hammered out like with any other collective agreement.”
Under the final-offer selection system of fish pricing, a provincial government-appointed panel steps in when the FFAW-Unifor, and Association of Seafood Producers can’t reach a deal on the price of a particular species.
The panel must choose one price or the other, with its final decision “binding” on both sides. However, most prices set by the panel to date this year have not resulted in fisheries, as is the case with northern shrimp, sea cucumber, east coast capelin, and likely squid.
In the case of snow crab, processors have attempted to pay far less than the panel price of $6.15/lb by charging owner-operators for services like transportation that in precious years were covered by the negotiated price.
Speculation is processors haven't made a killing at snow crab this year like they did in 2021, and are squeezing every last cent from every other price.
“Government must move immediately or a number of fisheries may not happen this year, which will be devastating to the inshore fleet and our rural communities,” Cleary said. “In the longer term government must be open to outside buyers.”
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FFAW-Unifor election ‘democratic farce’: SEA-NL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Friday, Aug. 19th, 2022
Elections and electronic logbooks; SEA-NL AGM set for Feb. 25th
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, Jan. 27th, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) has scheduled its first annual general meeting (AGM) for Saturday, Feb. 25th, at the Albatross Hotel in Gander, and will feature an election for a new president and regional reps.
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“Nominations open today for enterprise owners willing to step up for their fleets and the future of the inshore fishery,” says Ryan Cleary, Executive Director of SEA-NL. “The leaders we need must not be bought and paid for or out for themselves, but focused on the overall health and direction of the inshore as a whole.”
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The election of a new SEA-NL president was trigged earlier this month with the resignation of Jason Sullivan, SEA-NL’s first president elected at the 2022 founding convention.
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Sullivan initially took a leave of absence from SEA-NL to run for the FFAW presidency, but later resigned as part of a legal challenge of the election process.
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All SEA-NL members in good standing are eligible to nominate a candidate, or to throw their hat in the ring.
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During the AGM SEA-NL will also hold elections for regional representatives in the fishing zones adjacent to the province — including 2J off Labrador, 3K off the northeast coast, 3L off the east coast, 3Ps off the south coast, and 4R/3Pn off the west/southwest coasts.
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Candidates are encouraged to declare their intention to run ahead of the AGM.
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Besides elections, SEA-NL will hold sessions on electronic logbooks that DFO intends to make mandatory in 2024, and the ever-growing seal herds decimating commercial fish stock. A number of policy resolutions will also be debated.
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A more detailed agenda will be released prior to the AGM.
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SEA-NL is a professional association representing the distinct voice of the province’s more than 3,200 inshore enterprise owners.
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SEA-NL calls for elimination of province’s farcical system of fish pricing before fisheries lost
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Friday, July 15, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) is calling for the elimination of the provincial government's final-offer system of fish pricing in favour of direct negotiations between the union and processors until contracts are hammered out that both sides respect.
“There is no point in government being involved in negotiating the price of fish when its appointed panel does not have the power to enforce one price or the other, and its decisions do not result in commercial fisheries,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director.
“The existing system has collapsed with processors refusing to buy for the prices that are set, and inshore fleets remaining tied to the wharf,” he added. “Both sides must stick it out at the negotiating table until a contract is hammered out like with any other collective agreement.”
Under the final-offer selection system of fish pricing, a provincial government-appointed panel steps in when the FFAW-Unifor, and Association of Seafood Producers can’t reach a deal on the price of a particular species.
The panel must choose one price or the other, with its final decision “binding” on both sides. However, most prices set by the panel to date this year have not resulted in fisheries, as is the case with northern shrimp, sea cucumber, east coast capelin, and likely squid.
In the case of snow crab, processors have attempted to pay far less than the panel price of $6.15/lb by charging owner-operators for services like transportation that in precious years were covered by the negotiated price.
Speculation is processors haven't made a killing at snow crab this year like they did in 2021, and are squeezing every last cent from every other price.
“Government must move immediately or a number of fisheries may not happen this year, which will be devastating to the inshore fleet and our rural communities,” Cleary said. “In the longer term government must be open to outside buyers.”
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FFAW-Unifor election ‘democratic farce’: SEA-NL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Friday, Aug. 19th, 2022
SEA-NL condemns FFAW-Unifor election; union credibility spent
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, Jan. 6th, 2023
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) condemns the election Thursday of FFAW-Unifor president Greg Pretty, saying the corrupt process undermines faith in democracy, and the union’s ability to hold governments to account.
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“The election reeked of hypocrisy, and the FFAW’s credibility in this province has been spent,” says Merv Wiseman, a local expert on organizational governance and a member of SEA-NL’s board of directors.
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“The FFAW cannot hold the federal or provincial governments to account for fisheries management when the union’s own governance is a joke to the very industry it represents.”
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On Thursday, Greg Pretty was elected president of the FFAW-Unifor — the province’s largest private-sector union with 15,000 members, including workers in all sectors of the commercial fishing industry.
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Pretty, who’s been with the FFAW since 1979, was endorsed for president by the union’s executive board on Dec. 1st, within hours of former president Keith Sullivan’s surprise resignation.
The union’s election committee, chaired by Pretty’s ex-wife Tina Pretty, only informed the other two candidates — Dave Callahan, and Jason Sullivan — of their eligibly status two days before the election.
Sullivan’s candidacy was rejected because of his affiliation with FISH-NL, a rival union to the FFAW that closed more than three years ago. While Callahan’s candidacy was approved, he wasn’t supplied voter contact information.
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Only a few dozen members of the FFAW-Unifor’s joint council — made up of the union’s inshore and offshore/industrial councils — were eligible to vote in the election. Pretty won the vote 43 to 11.
As a professional association representing licensed inshore enterprise owners, most of SEA-NL’s membership are also members of the FFAW-Unifor, which negotiates fish prices on behalf of the inshore fleet.
“SEA-NL had an interest in the FFAW election as much as any fisherman,” said Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director.
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Over the coming days SEA-NL will lay out the process for electing a president to replace Jason Sullivan, who initially took a leave of absence from his position to run in the FFAW-Unior election, but later resigned.
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SEA-NL calls for elimination of province’s farcical system of fish pricing before fisheries lost
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Friday, July 15, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) is calling for the elimination of the provincial government's final-offer system of fish pricing in favour of direct negotiations between the union and processors until contracts are hammered out that both sides respect.
“There is no point in government being involved in negotiating the price of fish when its appointed panel does not have the power to enforce one price or the other, and its decisions do not result in commercial fisheries,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director.
“The existing system has collapsed with processors refusing to buy for the prices that are set, and inshore fleets remaining tied to the wharf,” he added. “Both sides must stick it out at the negotiating table until a contract is hammered out like with any other collective agreement.”
Under the final-offer selection system of fish pricing, a provincial government-appointed panel steps in when the FFAW-Unifor, and Association of Seafood Producers can’t reach a deal on the price of a particular species.
The panel must choose one price or the other, with its final decision “binding” on both sides. However, most prices set by the panel to date this year have not resulted in fisheries, as is the case with northern shrimp, sea cucumber, east coast capelin, and likely squid.
In the case of snow crab, processors have attempted to pay far less than the panel price of $6.15/lb by charging owner-operators for services like transportation that in precious years were covered by the negotiated price.
Speculation is processors haven't made a killing at snow crab this year like they did in 2021, and are squeezing every last cent from every other price.
“Government must move immediately or a number of fisheries may not happen this year, which will be devastating to the inshore fleet and our rural communities,” Cleary said. “In the longer term government must be open to outside buyers.”
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FFAW-Unifor election ‘democratic farce’: SEA-NL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Friday, Aug. 19th, 2022
SEA-NL calls on Ottawa to lift moratorium on Atlantic mackerel
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, Dec. 27th, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) is calling on Fisheries and Oceans Canada to lift the moratorium on Atlantic mackerel in 2023, and establish a quota at least equal to the United States.
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“DFO’s decision earlier this year to slap a moratorium on the Atlantic mackerel fishery while American fishermen continued to fish the same stock — combined with relatively weak science, and then even less data without fishermen on the water — was wrong from the get-go,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s executive director.
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“Fishermen also reported unprecedented amounts of mackerel from various year classes in waters around Newfoundland and Labrador this fall — reflecting a strong, healthy stock,” added Cleary. “DFO must correct its mistake, and reopen the Atlantic mackerel fishery in 2023.”
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In March, federal Fisheries and Oceans Minister Joyce Murray ordered a moratorium on the Atlantic mackerel commercial/bait fisheries in Atlantic Canada and Quebec, even as the U.S. continued fishing the same stock with a 4,963-tonne quota.
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The American quota for 2023 has been set at 3,629 tonnes.
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Murray has yet to say whether the Canadian moratorium will be extended, but she has reportedly been trying to land a joint management agreement with the United States to manage the mackerel stock. Formal talks between Canada and the U.S. are scheduled for February.
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DFO has also denied inshore enterprise owners the right to renew their mackerel licenses, with department officials explaining the move as administrative in light of this year's moratorium.
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“The issue comes down to trust between mackerel fishermen and DFO, and the fact there is none,” said Cleary.
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SEA-NL calls for elimination of province’s farcical system of fish pricing before fisheries lost
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Friday, July 15, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) is calling for the elimination of the provincial government's final-offer system of fish pricing in favour of direct negotiations between the union and processors until contracts are hammered out that both sides respect.
“There is no point in government being involved in negotiating the price of fish when its appointed panel does not have the power to enforce one price or the other, and its decisions do not result in commercial fisheries,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director.
“The existing system has collapsed with processors refusing to buy for the prices that are set, and inshore fleets remaining tied to the wharf,” he added. “Both sides must stick it out at the negotiating table until a contract is hammered out like with any other collective agreement.”
Under the final-offer selection system of fish pricing, a provincial government-appointed panel steps in when the FFAW-Unifor, and Association of Seafood Producers can’t reach a deal on the price of a particular species.
The panel must choose one price or the other, with its final decision “binding” on both sides. However, most prices set by the panel to date this year have not resulted in fisheries, as is the case with northern shrimp, sea cucumber, east coast capelin, and likely squid.
In the case of snow crab, processors have attempted to pay far less than the panel price of $6.15/lb by charging owner-operators for services like transportation that in precious years were covered by the negotiated price.
Speculation is processors haven't made a killing at snow crab this year like they did in 2021, and are squeezing every last cent from every other price.
“Government must move immediately or a number of fisheries may not happen this year, which will be devastating to the inshore fleet and our rural communities,” Cleary said. “In the longer term government must be open to outside buyers.”
-30-
FFAW-Unifor election ‘democratic farce’: SEA-NL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Friday, Aug. 19th, 2022
SEA-NL congratulates provincial Liberal Party on World Fisheries Day
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, Nov. 21st, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) congratulates the provincial Liberal Party on World Fisheries Day for passing resolutions to have cod declared a heritage fish, a call for search and rescue resources for Labrador, and a review of the rules to become an inshore skipper.
“It’s great to see the wild commercial fisheries on the political agenda of the ruling party,” says Ryan Cleary, Executive Director of SEA-NL. “The wild fisheries are what brought us here, and the wild fisheries will keep us here. That must never be forgotten.”
The provincial Liberal Party passed the three fishery-related resolutions during its weekend convention in Gander. The resolutions urge the Liberal government of Premier Andrew Furey to take action, but they’re not binding on his administration.
The resolution to declare cod as a provincial heritage fish is meant to instil pride, and speed up stock rebuilding efforts as a means to address food security.
The resolution involving search and rescue resources for Labrador specifically asks for 5-Wing Goose Bay to be designated a primary search and rescue (SAR) base. Labrador represents one of the largest regions in Canada without dedicated surface or aeronautical SAR resources.
The final resolution calls for a review of the Processional Fish Harvesters Act (1997), which governs the Professional Fish Harvesters Certification Board, the governing body for fish harvester certification in this province.
The resolution says harvesters are subject to “exceptionally stringent certification criteria,” with new entrants reaching crisis proportions, and calls on government to undertake an immediate public review.
“The wild fisheries deserve priority attention from all sectors, and in passing these three resolutions the Liberal party deserves to be commended — especially on World Fisheries Day,” said Cleary. "Well done."
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SEA-NL calls for elimination of province’s farcical system of fish pricing before fisheries lost
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Friday, July 15, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) is calling for the elimination of the provincial government's final-offer system of fish pricing in favour of direct negotiations between the union and processors until contracts are hammered out that both sides respect.
“There is no point in government being involved in negotiating the price of fish when its appointed panel does not have the power to enforce one price or the other, and its decisions do not result in commercial fisheries,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director.
“The existing system has collapsed with processors refusing to buy for the prices that are set, and inshore fleets remaining tied to the wharf,” he added. “Both sides must stick it out at the negotiating table until a contract is hammered out like with any other collective agreement.”
Under the final-offer selection system of fish pricing, a provincial government-appointed panel steps in when the FFAW-Unifor, and Association of Seafood Producers can’t reach a deal on the price of a particular species.
The panel must choose one price or the other, with its final decision “binding” on both sides. However, most prices set by the panel to date this year have not resulted in fisheries, as is the case with northern shrimp, sea cucumber, east coast capelin, and likely squid.
In the case of snow crab, processors have attempted to pay far less than the panel price of $6.15/lb by charging owner-operators for services like transportation that in precious years were covered by the negotiated price.
Speculation is processors haven't made a killing at snow crab this year like they did in 2021, and are squeezing every last cent from every other price.
“Government must move immediately or a number of fisheries may not happen this year, which will be devastating to the inshore fleet and our rural communities,” Cleary said. “In the longer term government must be open to outside buyers.”
-30-
FFAW-Unifor election ‘democratic farce’: SEA-NL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Friday, Aug. 19th, 2022
Seal summit fails to produce action plan: SEA-NL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, Nov. 9th, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) says while federal officials maintain Ottawa has changed its tune regarding the negative impact of seals on East Coast fish stocks, there is still no plan to address the problem.
“A change in tone remains just talk without a plan to back it up,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director. “Until Ottawa produces a game plan with clear objectives and timelines to deal with the rising seal population, events like this week’s Seal Summit in St. John’s must be seen as window-dressing.”
A two-day seal summit wrapped up Wednesday in St. John’s with an open call by federal Fisheries and Oceans Minister Joyce Murray for proposals to study seals in the marine ecosystem.
Murray first announced the summit this past May following the release of an independent report that recommended a forum to overcome gaps in seal science for commercial fisheries, and to improve the use of seal data gathered by the inshore fleet.
The seal science presented at the summit was alarming, and clearly incomplete.
Of the six species of seal in Atlantic Canadian waters, DFO only has recent population estimates for two — harp and grey seals.
The number of harps in the northwest Atlantic was pegged at 7.6 million in 2019 (up from 5.5 million in 2001), with indications the herd is increasing due to an exploding pregnancy rate.
The grey seal population off the East Coast in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and off southern Newfoundland numbered 366,400 in 2021, a huge jump from 15,000 in the 1960s.
The last survey of hooded seals in 2006 put the number of animals at 593,500, although the species is considered “data-poor.” DFO science also considers itself data-poor for bearded, harbour, and ringed seals.
DFO says there appear to be new "colonies" of grey seals — which are threatening groundfish stocks such as cod in the Gulf of St. Lawrence— as well as “river seals” or animals that take up year-round residence in some rivers
“The irony wasn’t lost on anyone at the summit that seals are a DFO success story in terms of fisheries management at the same time that roughly nine million of them are eating the East Coast fishery out of salt-box house and home,” said Cleary.
DFO’s leading seal scientist, Dr. Garry Stenson, said as late as last year the seal population is not a major factor in declining fish stocks.
However, the department provided information this week that stated seals at current population levels are impacting the recovery of groundfish and pelagic stocks, despite the fact there’s been no fundamental change in seal science.
“Contradictory statements like these leave little wonder people are skeptical of DFO and its seal science,” said Cleary.
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SEA-NL calls for elimination of province’s farcical system of fish pricing before fisheries lost
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Friday, July 15, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) is calling for the elimination of the provincial government's final-offer system of fish pricing in favour of direct negotiations between the union and processors until contracts are hammered out that both sides respect.
“There is no point in government being involved in negotiating the price of fish when its appointed panel does not have the power to enforce one price or the other, and its decisions do not result in commercial fisheries,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director.
“The existing system has collapsed with processors refusing to buy for the prices that are set, and inshore fleets remaining tied to the wharf,” he added. “Both sides must stick it out at the negotiating table until a contract is hammered out like with any other collective agreement.”
Under the final-offer selection system of fish pricing, a provincial government-appointed panel steps in when the FFAW-Unifor, and Association of Seafood Producers can’t reach a deal on the price of a particular species.
The panel must choose one price or the other, with its final decision “binding” on both sides. However, most prices set by the panel to date this year have not resulted in fisheries, as is the case with northern shrimp, sea cucumber, east coast capelin, and likely squid.
In the case of snow crab, processors have attempted to pay far less than the panel price of $6.15/lb by charging owner-operators for services like transportation that in precious years were covered by the negotiated price.
Speculation is processors haven't made a killing at snow crab this year like they did in 2021, and are squeezing every last cent from every other price.
“Government must move immediately or a number of fisheries may not happen this year, which will be devastating to the inshore fleet and our rural communities,” Cleary said. “In the longer term government must be open to outside buyers.”
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FFAW-Unifor election ‘democratic farce’: SEA-NL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Friday, Aug. 19th, 2022
Summit or same-old, jury out on DFO’s latest move on seals: SEA-NL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, Nov. 7th, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) will be represented at this week’s Seal Summit in St. John’s, and is eager to learn whether the event will lead to clear objectives and an action plan.
“DFO Minister Joyce Murray took a monumental step earlier this year by acknowledging seals eat fish, and skippers now want to hear what Ottawa is prepared to do about it?” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director.
“The next two days will reveal whether the federal government will put words to actions, and we’re going in with a positive attitude,” added Cleary, who will attend the summit with board member Merv Wiseman.
The summit is by invitation only, and is scheduled for Nov. 8th and 9th in St. John’s.
In April, a federal seal task team recommended a science forum to overcome gaps in seal science for commercial fisheries, and to improve the use of seal data gathered by the inshore fleet. Murray announced the seal summit in May,
The task team also recommended transparency, although the seal summit’s agenda had not been released as of Monday afternoon.
DFO scientists have said that almost eight million harp seals have little or no direct impact on stocks like northern cod. But they also appear to minimize the indirect impact that millions of seals consuming millions of tonnes of seafood a year have on commercial fish stocks.
In 2017, the entire NL fishery, inshore and offshore, landed just under 200,000 tonnes of all species.
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SEA-NL calls for elimination of province’s farcical system of fish pricing before fisheries lost
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Friday, July 15, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) is calling for the elimination of the provincial government's final-offer system of fish pricing in favour of direct negotiations between the union and processors until contracts are hammered out that both sides respect.
“There is no point in government being involved in negotiating the price of fish when its appointed panel does not have the power to enforce one price or the other, and its decisions do not result in commercial fisheries,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director.
“The existing system has collapsed with processors refusing to buy for the prices that are set, and inshore fleets remaining tied to the wharf,” he added. “Both sides must stick it out at the negotiating table until a contract is hammered out like with any other collective agreement.”
Under the final-offer selection system of fish pricing, a provincial government-appointed panel steps in when the FFAW-Unifor, and Association of Seafood Producers can’t reach a deal on the price of a particular species.
The panel must choose one price or the other, with its final decision “binding” on both sides. However, most prices set by the panel to date this year have not resulted in fisheries, as is the case with northern shrimp, sea cucumber, east coast capelin, and likely squid.
In the case of snow crab, processors have attempted to pay far less than the panel price of $6.15/lb by charging owner-operators for services like transportation that in precious years were covered by the negotiated price.
Speculation is processors haven't made a killing at snow crab this year like they did in 2021, and are squeezing every last cent from every other price.
“Government must move immediately or a number of fisheries may not happen this year, which will be devastating to the inshore fleet and our rural communities,” Cleary said. “In the longer term government must be open to outside buyers.”
-30-
FFAW-Unifor election ‘democratic farce’: SEA-NL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Friday, Aug. 19th, 2022
SEA-NL renews call for improved search and rescue for Labrador; federal inquiry into fishing vessel safety
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday Nov. 4th, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) joins in the renewed call for more search and rescue resources for Labrador and a federal inquiry into fishing vessel safety — encouraging other stakeholders like the FFAW-Unifor to do the same.
“Safety at sea is a life-and-death issue that demands all hands on deck,” says Merv Wiseman, a member of SEA-NL’s board of directors, and an outspoken advocate for search and rescue/fishing vessel safety.
“The lives of mariners off Labrador are as important as the lives of mariners off Newfoundland, and search and rescue resources must reflect that.”
This past May SEA-NL wrote Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to formally request a commission of inquiry into fishing vessel safety, and search and rescue response in this province.
The same call was echoed again this week by Janette Russell, the mother of a Marc Russell, who disappeared in the waters off Mary's Harbour with crew mate Joey Jenkins in September 2021 aboard the 28-foot boat Island Lady.
In a keynote address to a symposium organized by the NL Fish Harvesters Safety Association in St. John’s, Russell called for a federal inquiry into fishing vessel safety, and for the Canadian military to air resources to 5 Wing Goose Bay.
“All hands connected to the fishery in any way must come together for this to happen,” said Wiseman, who was initially invited to the symposium, but the invitation was later rescinded by the FFAW.
In response to SEA-NL’s letter to the Prime Minister, Julie Gascon, Transport Canada’s Director General, Marine Safety and Security, replied in July to say there are currently no plans and no need for an inquiry.
Given studies into DFO policy and maritime search and rescue already carried out by parliamentary committees, Gascon wrote “… it is felt another full inquiry, focused solely on Newfoundland and Labrador is unnecessary at this time.”
Said Wiseman, “The bureaucratic response does not reflect the live-and-death need for search and rescue. We await the Prime Minister’s response.”
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SEA-NL calls for elimination of province’s farcical system of fish pricing before fisheries lost
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Friday, July 15, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) is calling for the elimination of the provincial government's final-offer system of fish pricing in favour of direct negotiations between the union and processors until contracts are hammered out that both sides respect.
“There is no point in government being involved in negotiating the price of fish when its appointed panel does not have the power to enforce one price or the other, and its decisions do not result in commercial fisheries,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director.
“The existing system has collapsed with processors refusing to buy for the prices that are set, and inshore fleets remaining tied to the wharf,” he added. “Both sides must stick it out at the negotiating table until a contract is hammered out like with any other collective agreement.”
Under the final-offer selection system of fish pricing, a provincial government-appointed panel steps in when the FFAW-Unifor, and Association of Seafood Producers can’t reach a deal on the price of a particular species.
The panel must choose one price or the other, with its final decision “binding” on both sides. However, most prices set by the panel to date this year have not resulted in fisheries, as is the case with northern shrimp, sea cucumber, east coast capelin, and likely squid.
In the case of snow crab, processors have attempted to pay far less than the panel price of $6.15/lb by charging owner-operators for services like transportation that in precious years were covered by the negotiated price.
Speculation is processors haven't made a killing at snow crab this year like they did in 2021, and are squeezing every last cent from every other price.
“Government must move immediately or a number of fisheries may not happen this year, which will be devastating to the inshore fleet and our rural communities,” Cleary said. “In the longer term government must be open to outside buyers.”
-30-
FFAW-Unifor election ‘democratic farce’: SEA-NL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Friday, Aug. 19th, 2022
Provincial report into foreign control of fishery misses boat completely: SEA-NL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Thursday, Oct. 27th, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) says a provincial government review of foreign investment in the fish processing sector misses the boat entirely in terms of addressing the extent of foreign control and corporate concentration.
“The report certainly has nice pictures,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director. “Beyond that the takeaway about foreign control and corporate concentration in the fishing industry is that Minister Derrick Bragg missed his calling as a window-dresser.”
The report of foreign investment in the processing sector comes more than two years after the province approved Royal Greenland’s takeover of Quinlan Brothers and St. Anthony Seafoods in September 2020 upon recommendation of the Fish Processing Licensing Board earlier that month.
In recommending approval of the purchase, the board warned the level of foreign investment by companies that are normally Newfoundland and Labrador’s competitors in the world market was getting to be “significant.”
The provincial government ordered a review of foreign investment a year later in September 2021 — two weeks after SEA-NL wrote the premier asking for one to coincide with an ongoing federal review of foreign ownership of offshore fishing licenses.
But the provincial government report highlighted that the province’s historic experience with foreign investment in the processing sector has been positive, praising Royal Greenland’s “beneficial contributions” to competition and productivity within the sector.
Moving forward, the report recommends processors be made to submit annual information on shareholder and corporate structure, as well as data on beneficial ownership, which refers to who actually benefits from a fishing/processing license.
“SEA-NL’s message was for complete transparency, for the province to consult as broadly as possible, and for no stone to be left unturned to reveal the true extent of foreign control/corporate concentration within our commercial fisheries,” said Cleary. “That message was ignored.”
Royal Greenland — along with Ocean Choice International, and the Barry Group — controls most of all fish (and shellfish) processing in the province.
The companies are also widely believed to control an unknown number of inshore fishing licences through so-called controlling agreements “whereby a person or corporation other than the named license-holder controls, influences and benefits from the license.”
Those controlling agreements are said to be rampant in Newfoundland and Labrador’s inshore fishery, which should set off alarm bells regarding food security, and the province's ability to economically capitalize on the inshore fishery.
The province released another review recently of the province’s fish price-setting model, which also didn’t address the impact that corporate concentration and foreign-control has over prices or hold public meetings.
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SEA-NL calls for elimination of province’s farcical system of fish pricing before fisheries lost
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Friday, July 15, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) is calling for the elimination of the provincial government's final-offer system of fish pricing in favour of direct negotiations between the union and processors until contracts are hammered out that both sides respect.
“There is no point in government being involved in negotiating the price of fish when its appointed panel does not have the power to enforce one price or the other, and its decisions do not result in commercial fisheries,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director.
“The existing system has collapsed with processors refusing to buy for the prices that are set, and inshore fleets remaining tied to the wharf,” he added. “Both sides must stick it out at the negotiating table until a contract is hammered out like with any other collective agreement.”
Under the final-offer selection system of fish pricing, a provincial government-appointed panel steps in when the FFAW-Unifor, and Association of Seafood Producers can’t reach a deal on the price of a particular species.
The panel must choose one price or the other, with its final decision “binding” on both sides. However, most prices set by the panel to date this year have not resulted in fisheries, as is the case with northern shrimp, sea cucumber, east coast capelin, and likely squid.
In the case of snow crab, processors have attempted to pay far less than the panel price of $6.15/lb by charging owner-operators for services like transportation that in precious years were covered by the negotiated price.
Speculation is processors haven't made a killing at snow crab this year like they did in 2021, and are squeezing every last cent from every other price.
“Government must move immediately or a number of fisheries may not happen this year, which will be devastating to the inshore fleet and our rural communities,” Cleary said. “In the longer term government must be open to outside buyers.”
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FFAW-Unifor election ‘democratic farce’: SEA-NL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Friday, Aug. 19th, 2022
Science fishery or FFAW quota, DFO refusal to release catch data from sentinel fisheries raises conflict of interest concerns
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Wednesday, Oct. 19th, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) accuses Fisheries and Oceans of treating the FFAW-run, science-based sentinel cod fisheries like a commercial quota in refusing to release catch data — raises serious conflict of interest concerns.
“DFO says on one hand the sentinel fisheries are for science, but on the other hand refuses to release details under federal Treasury Board guidelines for the release of commercial catch information,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director.
“DFO seems to be saying the FFAW has a cod quota, which raises serious questions of conflict of interest between the union and inshore owner-operators.”
The sentinel or test cod fisheries in waters around the province have been run by the FFAW-Unifor under contract to Ottawa since the mid-1990s as a means for fishermen to keep an eye on adjacent cod stocks in the absence of commercial fisheries.
But DFO has refused to release the amount of cod caught in this year’s sentinel fisheries under a federal policy known as the the “rule of 5”, which states there must be a minimum of five enterprise owners and five buyers involved for catch information to be released.
While dozens of inshore enterprises take part in the sentinel cod fisheries every year, DFO says there are fewer than five buyers for sentinel-caught cod in 2022, the first year the department has refused to release the sentinel catch.
In 2021, 70 tonnes of cod were caught in the sentinel fisheries, although the tonnage reached as high as 263 tonnes in 2015.
Sentinel fisheries contracts were worth more than $1.1 million in 2017 to the FFAW, which also keeps the money from the sale of the cod.
Conflict of interest concerns have been raised about where the union sells the cod, the price per pound, and how the price is negotiated considering the FFAW’s role as bargaining agent for the inshore fleet, unionized plant workers where cod is processed, and workers aboard offshore trawlers that fish cod off the south coast.
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SEA-NL calls for elimination of province’s farcical system of fish pricing before fisheries lost
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Friday, July 15, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) is calling for the elimination of the provincial government's final-offer system of fish pricing in favour of direct negotiations between the union and processors until contracts are hammered out that both sides respect.
“There is no point in government being involved in negotiating the price of fish when its appointed panel does not have the power to enforce one price or the other, and its decisions do not result in commercial fisheries,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director.
“The existing system has collapsed with processors refusing to buy for the prices that are set, and inshore fleets remaining tied to the wharf,” he added. “Both sides must stick it out at the negotiating table until a contract is hammered out like with any other collective agreement.”
Under the final-offer selection system of fish pricing, a provincial government-appointed panel steps in when the FFAW-Unifor, and Association of Seafood Producers can’t reach a deal on the price of a particular species.
The panel must choose one price or the other, with its final decision “binding” on both sides. However, most prices set by the panel to date this year have not resulted in fisheries, as is the case with northern shrimp, sea cucumber, east coast capelin, and likely squid.
In the case of snow crab, processors have attempted to pay far less than the panel price of $6.15/lb by charging owner-operators for services like transportation that in precious years were covered by the negotiated price.
Speculation is processors haven't made a killing at snow crab this year like they did in 2021, and are squeezing every last cent from every other price.
“Government must move immediately or a number of fisheries may not happen this year, which will be devastating to the inshore fleet and our rural communities,” Cleary said. “In the longer term government must be open to outside buyers.”
-30-
FFAW-Unifor election ‘democratic farce’: SEA-NL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Friday, Aug. 19th, 2022
SEA-NL questions legitimacy of fish pricing review; skippers not involved, study wasn’t broad enough
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, Oct. 17th, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) questions the legitimacy of the review of the province’s broken fish price-setting system when the consultant didn’t consult inshore skippers.
“The consultant didn't hold a single meeting with the more than 3,200 licensed inshore enterprise owners in this province when their livelihoods hang on the price of fish,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director.
“Usually when government considers changing laws they consult people, but that didn’t happen with the fish pricing review and the inshore fleet, which raises the question whether this government sees fishermen as people. That sounds as ludicrous as not including owner operators in the review of fish pricing.”
The report of the review of this province's legislated fish price-setting system recommends tweaking the existing final offer-selection model, as well as continuing with the ban on strikes and lockouts.
The report also recommends negotiations begin this fall towards developing a formula to determine the 2023 price of snow crab, similar to the formulas that determine lobster and halibut prices.
The consultant rejected the idea of an electronic auction pilot project, and didn’t entertain the suggestion of outside buyers, which apparently fell outside the review’s mandate. So too did the control that some processors (foreign and domestic) have over inshore boats, as well as the exclusion of fish pricing from the federal Competition Act.
“Price is irrelevant if there's no buyer, which is the other piece of the collective-bargaining puzzle, and government didn’t even go down that road,” Cleary said.
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SEA-NL calls for elimination of province’s farcical system of fish pricing before fisheries lost
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Friday, July 15, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) is calling for the elimination of the provincial government's final-offer system of fish pricing in favour of direct negotiations between the union and processors until contracts are hammered out that both sides respect.
“There is no point in government being involved in negotiating the price of fish when its appointed panel does not have the power to enforce one price or the other, and its decisions do not result in commercial fisheries,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director.
“The existing system has collapsed with processors refusing to buy for the prices that are set, and inshore fleets remaining tied to the wharf,” he added. “Both sides must stick it out at the negotiating table until a contract is hammered out like with any other collective agreement.”
Under the final-offer selection system of fish pricing, a provincial government-appointed panel steps in when the FFAW-Unifor, and Association of Seafood Producers can’t reach a deal on the price of a particular species.
The panel must choose one price or the other, with its final decision “binding” on both sides. However, most prices set by the panel to date this year have not resulted in fisheries, as is the case with northern shrimp, sea cucumber, east coast capelin, and likely squid.
In the case of snow crab, processors have attempted to pay far less than the panel price of $6.15/lb by charging owner-operators for services like transportation that in precious years were covered by the negotiated price.
Speculation is processors haven't made a killing at snow crab this year like they did in 2021, and are squeezing every last cent from every other price.
“Government must move immediately or a number of fisheries may not happen this year, which will be devastating to the inshore fleet and our rural communities,” Cleary said. “In the longer term government must be open to outside buyers.”
-30-
FFAW-Unifor election ‘democratic farce’: SEA-NL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Friday, Aug. 19th, 2022
SEA-NL applauds former fisherman’s appointment as Opposition critic for Fisheries and Oceans
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, Oct. 13th, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) says Conservative MP Clifford Small’s appointment as Opposition critic for Fisheries and Oceans/the Canadian Coast Guard is good news for the province’s wild fisheries.
“As the son of an inshore fisherman, and a former skipper himself, Clifford Small understands the wild commercial fisheries better than any politician of any political stripe,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director.
“What better MP to hold the Government of Canada to account for better fishery policy, science, and search and rescue than a former fisherman who can relate from the deck of a boat.”
Newly elected federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre unveiled his shadow cabinet Wednesday, with Small assigned critic for Fisheries and Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard. Small will face off in the Commons against DFO Minister Joyce Murray, a British Columbia MP.
Originally from Wild Cove, White Bay, Small fished snow crab, northern shrimp, and seals.
Small was elected Conservative MP for the central Newfoundland riding of Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame in the September 2021 federal election, and serves on the House of Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans.
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SEA-NL recommends electronic fish auction pilot project for 2023 season
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, Sept. 23rd, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) questions FFAW-Unifor accountability in light of the union executive’s election earlier today of long-time west coast staff-rep Jason Spingle to the position of secretary-treasurer.
“Where is the accountability when the FFAW executive elects a new secretary-treasurer who was a key figure in an unprecedented court case in which the union was shown to have deceived its members?” questions Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director.
The FFAW executive — including executive board, and inshore and industrial-retail councils — met this morning in St. John’s, and elected Jason Spingle, a 24-year union staff-rep for the province’s west coast, as the new secretary-treasurer.
Spingle replaces Robert Keenan, who unexpectedly resigned in July.
In 2016, the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador ruled in favour of 71 scallop fishermen who took their union, the FFAW-Unifor, to court over a $2.6-million compensation fund for lost fishing grounds. The decision was later upheld on appeal.
Nalcor set up the fund to compensate fishermen for an under-sea cable laid across the Strait of Bell Isle to bring Muskrat Falls hydroelectricity to the island.
The fishermen argued the money should be shared through lump sum payments among everyone who held a scallop licence. The union said the money should be paid out over 30 years to active fishers who could demonstrate annual losses.
During the trial Spingle admitted the union was a year into negotiations with Nalcor before it asked fishermen to sign consent forms.
“Jason Spingle’s election does little to instil confidence in such an important position,” says Merv Wiseman, a member of SEA-NL’s executive board with extensive knowledge in organizational governance.
Wiseman has described the FFAW election as a “democratic farce.”
The roughly 2,400 FFAW members who signed membership cards in 2019 in support of FISH-NL, a rival union at the time, were deemed ineligible by the union to nominate candidates or to run for secretary-treasurer.
SEA-NL calls for elimination of province’s farcical system of fish pricing before fisheries lost
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Friday, July 15, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) is calling for the elimination of the provincial government's final-offer system of fish pricing in favour of direct negotiations between the union and processors until contracts are hammered out that both sides respect.
“There is no point in government being involved in negotiating the price of fish when its appointed panel does not have the power to enforce one price or the other, and its decisions do not result in commercial fisheries,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director.
“The existing system has collapsed with processors refusing to buy for the prices that are set, and inshore fleets remaining tied to the wharf,” he added. “Both sides must stick it out at the negotiating table until a contract is hammered out like with any other collective agreement.”
Under the final-offer selection system of fish pricing, a provincial government-appointed panel steps in when the FFAW-Unifor, and Association of Seafood Producers can’t reach a deal on the price of a particular species.
The panel must choose one price or the other, with its final decision “binding” on both sides. However, most prices set by the panel to date this year have not resulted in fisheries, as is the case with northern shrimp, sea cucumber, east coast capelin, and likely squid.
In the case of snow crab, processors have attempted to pay far less than the panel price of $6.15/lb by charging owner-operators for services like transportation that in precious years were covered by the negotiated price.
Speculation is processors haven't made a killing at snow crab this year like they did in 2021, and are squeezing every last cent from every other price.
“Government must move immediately or a number of fisheries may not happen this year, which will be devastating to the inshore fleet and our rural communities,” Cleary said. “In the longer term government must be open to outside buyers.”
-30-
FFAW-Unifor election ‘democratic farce’: SEA-NL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Friday, Aug. 19th, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) calls the election process followed by the FFAW-Unifor to select a new secretary-treasurer a democratic farce, with thousands of members blocked from taking part in the vote.
“The FFAW election is an attack on democracy in terms of a free, open, and transparent election given the absolute corruption of what should be the union’s prized democratic process,” says Merv Wiseman, a member of SEA-NL’s executive board with extensive experience in organizational governance.
“The broader public should be concerned anytime we see democratic rights and freedoms usurped,” he added. “The FFAW’s voting practice is a decline in democracy, and should be condemned by all those who value the democratic process.”
The FFAW called an election for a new secretary-treasurer, the union’s second-in-command, following the unexpected July 29th resignation of Robert Keenan, who had been in the position since 2020.
However, the roughly 2,400 FFAW members who signed membership cards in 2019 in support of FISH-NL, a rival union at the time, are deemed ineligible by the union to nominate candidates or to run for secretary-treasurer.
Nominations close Aug. 26th, and to date the only candidates to step forward are two FFAW paid employees.
The actual election will be held Aug. 31st, and only members of the union’s executive board, and inshore and industrial-retail-offshore councils are eligible to vote.
“SEA-NL has a vested interest in the FFAW election because the union also represents our enterprise-owner members on fundamental issues like non-core groundfish licenses, and the right of fishermen to sell them or pass them on,” Wiseman said. “It’s in the best interests of SEA-NL members that enterprise owners are well represented."
Formed in 2016, FISH-NL was a recognized union until its disbandment in December 2019. SEA-NL was formed in the spring of 2021 as a professional association to serve as the distinct voice of the province’s 3,200 licensed inshore enterprise owners in all fleets.
-30-
SEA-NL recommends electronic fish auction pilot project for 2023 season
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, Sept. 23rd, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) recommends the introduction of an electronic auction pilot project for the 2023 fishing season to address the industry chaos of recent months, and help achieve fair market share for the inshore fleet.
“This province is the only jurisdiction I know of outside of China or North Korea where electronic auctions and other free-market systems are not used to set the price of fish,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director. “That alone tells you there’s a problem.”
SEA-NL recommended an electronic auction pilot project in its recent submission to a review of the province’s legislated system of fish pricing. That system is known as final-offer selection, and involves a government-appointed panel setting the price of fish when the union and processors can’t agree.
The province called the review in late July after prices set by the panel failed to kick-start fisheries like northern shrimp, sea cucumber, and capelin. Enterprise owners either wouldn’t fish for the panel price, or processors wouldn’t buy for it.
Under SEA-NL’s proposal, a modified final-offer selection bargaining model would continue to set the minimum price for fish based on average quality, while an electronic auction — involving outside buyers — would establish the highest possible price by allowing for the interplay of full market forces.
“An auction system would also address the high level of control processors have over some enterprise owners in that catches would be sold to the highest bidder — not the financier of the fishing operation,” said Cleary.
A 1998 provincial task force report by local economist David Vardy first recommended the final-offer selection method of fish pricing as a pilot project to run parallel with an electronic auction pilot project. Only the auction didn’t get off the ground for almost 10 years, and was later deemed a failure after processors wouldn’t take part.
Vardy was also a member of Premier Andrew Furey’s 2021 economic recovery team whose report highlighted the “rejection” of the electronic auction system.
“Premier Furey might even consider hiring David Vardy again to put together the electronic auction pilot project considering he’s been over the same ground before,” Cleary said.
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SEA-NL calls for elimination of province’s farcical system of fish pricing before fisheries lost
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Friday, July 15, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) is calling for the elimination of the provincial government's final-offer system of fish pricing in favour of direct negotiations between the union and processors until contracts are hammered out that both sides respect.
“There is no point in government being involved in negotiating the price of fish when its appointed panel does not have the power to enforce one price or the other, and its decisions do not result in commercial fisheries,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director.
“The existing system has collapsed with processors refusing to buy for the prices that are set, and inshore fleets remaining tied to the wharf,” he added. “Both sides must stick it out at the negotiating table until a contract is hammered out like with any other collective agreement.”
Under the final-offer selection system of fish pricing, a provincial government-appointed panel steps in when the FFAW-Unifor, and Association of Seafood Producers can’t reach a deal on the price of a particular species.
The panel must choose one price or the other, with its final decision “binding” on both sides. However, most prices set by the panel to date this year have not resulted in fisheries, as is the case with northern shrimp, sea cucumber, east coast capelin, and likely squid.
In the case of snow crab, processors have attempted to pay far less than the panel price of $6.15/lb by charging owner-operators for services like transportation that in precious years were covered by the negotiated price.
Speculation is processors haven't made a killing at snow crab this year like they did in 2021, and are squeezing every last cent from every other price.
“Government must move immediately or a number of fisheries may not happen this year, which will be devastating to the inshore fleet and our rural communities,” Cleary said. “In the longer term government must be open to outside buyers.”
-30-
FFAW-Unifor election ‘democratic farce’: SEA-NL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Friday, Aug. 19th, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) calls the election process followed by the FFAW-Unifor to select a new secretary-treasurer a democratic farce, with thousands of members blocked from taking part in the vote.
“The FFAW election is an attack on democracy in terms of a free, open, and transparent election given the absolute corruption of what should be the union’s prized democratic process,” says Merv Wiseman, a member of SEA-NL’s executive board with extensive experience in organizational governance.
“The broader public should be concerned anytime we see democratic rights and freedoms usurped,” he added. “The FFAW’s voting practice is a decline in democracy, and should be condemned by all those who value the democratic process.”
The FFAW called an election for a new secretary-treasurer, the union’s second-in-command, following the unexpected July 29th resignation of Robert Keenan, who had been in the position since 2020.
However, the roughly 2,400 FFAW members who signed membership cards in 2019 in support of FISH-NL, a rival union at the time, are deemed ineligible by the union to nominate candidates or to run for secretary-treasurer.
Nominations close Aug. 26th, and to date the only candidates to step forward are two FFAW paid employees.
The actual election will be held Aug. 31st, and only members of the union’s executive board, and inshore and industrial-retail-offshore councils are eligible to vote.
“SEA-NL has a vested interest in the FFAW election because the union also represents our enterprise-owner members on fundamental issues like non-core groundfish licenses, and the right of fishermen to sell them or pass them on,” Wiseman said. “It’s in the best interests of SEA-NL members that enterprise owners are well represented."
Formed in 2016, FISH-NL was a recognized union until its disbandment in December 2019. SEA-NL was formed in the spring of 2021 as a professional association to serve as the distinct voice of the province’s 3,200 licensed inshore enterprise owners in all fleets.
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FFAW’s new sec-treasurer key figure in court case union lost to members; SEA-NL questions accountability
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, Aug. 31st, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) questions FFAW-Unifor accountability in light of the union executive’s election earlier today of long-time west coast staff-rep Jason Spingle to the position of secretary-treasurer.
“Where is the accountability when the FFAW executive elects a new secretary-treasurer who was a key figure in an unprecedented court case in which the union was shown to have deceived its members?” questions Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director.
The FFAW executive — including executive board, and inshore and industrial-retail councils — met this morning in St. John’s, and elected Jason Spingle, a 24-year union staff-rep for the province’s west coast, as the new secretary-treasurer.
Spingle replaces Robert Keenan, who unexpectedly resigned in July.
In 2016, the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador ruled in favour of 71 scallop fishermen who took their union, the FFAW-Unifor, to court over a $2.6-million compensation fund for lost fishing grounds. The decision was later upheld on appeal.
Nalcor set up the fund to compensate fishermen for an under-sea cable laid across the Strait of Bell Isle to bring Muskrat Falls hydroelectricity to the island.
The fishermen argued the money should be shared through lump sum payments among everyone who held a scallop licence. The union said the money should be paid out over 30 years to active fishers who could demonstrate annual losses.
During the trial Spingle admitted the union was a year into negotiations with Nalcor before it asked fishermen to sign consent forms.
“Jason Spingle’s election does little to instil confidence in such an important position,” says Merv Wiseman, a member of SEA-NL’s executive board with extensive knowledge in organizational governance.
Wiseman has described the FFAW election as a “democratic farce.”
The roughly 2,400 FFAW members who signed membership cards in 2019 in support of FISH-NL, a rival union at the time, were deemed ineligible by the union to nominate candidates or to run for secretary-treasurer.
As well, only members of the union’s executive board, and inshore and industrial-retail-offshore councils, actually voted for the new secretary-treasurer.
SEA-NL also had a a vested interest in the FFAW election because the union represents enterprise-owner members on fundamental issues like non-core groundfish licenses, and the right of fishermen to sell them or pass them on.
-30-
SEA-NL calls for elimination of province’s farcical system of fish pricing before fisheries lost
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Friday, July 15, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) is calling for the elimination of the provincial government's final-offer system of fish pricing in favour of direct negotiations between the union and processors until contracts are hammered out that both sides respect.
“There is no point in government being involved in negotiating the price of fish when its appointed panel does not have the power to enforce one price or the other, and its decisions do not result in commercial fisheries,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director.
“The existing system has collapsed with processors refusing to buy for the prices that are set, and inshore fleets remaining tied to the wharf,” he added. “Both sides must stick it out at the negotiating table until a contract is hammered out like with any other collective agreement.”
Under the final-offer selection system of fish pricing, a provincial government-appointed panel steps in when the FFAW-Unifor, and Association of Seafood Producers can’t reach a deal on the price of a particular species.
The panel must choose one price or the other, with its final decision “binding” on both sides. However, most prices set by the panel to date this year have not resulted in fisheries, as is the case with northern shrimp, sea cucumber, east coast capelin, and likely squid.
In the case of snow crab, processors have attempted to pay far less than the panel price of $6.15/lb by charging owner-operators for services like transportation that in precious years were covered by the negotiated price.
Speculation is processors haven't made a killing at snow crab this year like they did in 2021, and are squeezing every last cent from every other price.
“Government must move immediately or a number of fisheries may not happen this year, which will be devastating to the inshore fleet and our rural communities,” Cleary said. “In the longer term government must be open to outside buyers.”
-30-
FFAW-Unifor election ‘democratic farce’: SEA-NL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Friday, Aug. 19th, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) calls the election process followed by the FFAW-Unifor to select a new secretary-treasurer a democratic farce, with thousands of members blocked from taking part in the vote.
“The FFAW election is an attack on democracy in terms of a free, open, and transparent election given the absolute corruption of what should be the union’s prized democratic process,” says Merv Wiseman, a member of SEA-NL’s executive board with extensive experience in organizational governance.
“The broader public should be concerned anytime we see democratic rights and freedoms usurped,” he added. “The FFAW’s voting practice is a decline in democracy, and should be condemned by all those who value the democratic process.”
The FFAW called an election for a new secretary-treasurer, the union’s second-in-command, following the unexpected July 29th resignation of Robert Keenan, who had been in the position since 2020.
However, the roughly 2,400 FFAW members who signed membership cards in 2019 in support of FISH-NL, a rival union at the time, are deemed ineligible by the union to nominate candidates or to run for secretary-treasurer.
Nominations close Aug. 26th, and to date the only candidates to step forward are two FFAW paid employees.
The actual election will be held Aug. 31st, and only members of the union’s executive board, and inshore and industrial-retail-offshore councils are eligible to vote.
“SEA-NL has a vested interest in the FFAW election because the union also represents our enterprise-owner members on fundamental issues like non-core groundfish licenses, and the right of fishermen to sell them or pass them on,” Wiseman said. “It’s in the best interests of SEA-NL members that enterprise owners are well represented."
Formed in 2016, FISH-NL was a recognized union until its disbandment in December 2019. SEA-NL was formed in the spring of 2021 as a professional association to serve as the distinct voice of the province’s 3,200 licensed inshore enterprise owners in all fleets.
-30-
Search and rescue services must top Ottawa’s Labrador agenda: SEA-NL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, Aug. 26th, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) joins Indigenous leaders in expressing disappointment that search and rescue (SAR) services for Labrador are not Ottawa’s highest priority.
“For as long as the entire Labrador coastline is void of a dedicated Canadian Coast Guard ship, and a dedicated Cormorant helicopter to carry out primary SAR missions, the issue must top all agendas,” says Merv Wiseman, a member of SEA-NL’s executive, and outspoken advocate for stronger SAR services.
Defence Minister Anita Anand visited Canadian Forces base 5 Wing Goose Bay Wednesday to reiterate Ottawa’s $38.6-million funding commitment over 20 years to improve the country’s military bases.
Infrastructure at 5 Wing Goose will reportedly be upgraded, including new surveillance and air weapons systems.
Indigenous leaders representing the NunatuKavut community council, and the Nunatsiavut government expressed disappointment following the minister’s visit at the lack of federal commitment to improved SAR services for Labrador.
SEA-NL passed at resolution at its founding convention earlier this year that Fisheries and Oceans Canada dedicate a primary Canadian Coast Guard vessel to Labrador; and that National Defence assign a dedicated Cormorant helicopter to 5 Wing Goose Bay.
“SEA-NL will be calling on the Defence Minister to seize the opportunity that still exists to establish 5 Wing Goose as a legitimate search and rescue base for Labrador,” Wiseman said.
Labrador represents one of the largest geographical areas in Canada without a dedicated SAR air or maritime resource stationed in its region.
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SEA-NL calls for elimination of province’s farcical system of fish pricing before fisheries lost
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Friday, July 15, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) is calling for the elimination of the provincial government's final-offer system of fish pricing in favour of direct negotiations between the union and processors until contracts are hammered out that both sides respect.
“There is no point in government being involved in negotiating the price of fish when its appointed panel does not have the power to enforce one price or the other, and its decisions do not result in commercial fisheries,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director.
“The existing system has collapsed with processors refusing to buy for the prices that are set, and inshore fleets remaining tied to the wharf,” he added. “Both sides must stick it out at the negotiating table until a contract is hammered out like with any other collective agreement.”
Under the final-offer selection system of fish pricing, a provincial government-appointed panel steps in when the FFAW-Unifor, and Association of Seafood Producers can’t reach a deal on the price of a particular species.
The panel must choose one price or the other, with its final decision “binding” on both sides. However, most prices set by the panel to date this year have not resulted in fisheries, as is the case with northern shrimp, sea cucumber, east coast capelin, and likely squid.
In the case of snow crab, processors have attempted to pay far less than the panel price of $6.15/lb by charging owner-operators for services like transportation that in precious years were covered by the negotiated price.
Speculation is processors haven't made a killing at snow crab this year like they did in 2021, and are squeezing every last cent from every other price.
“Government must move immediately or a number of fisheries may not happen this year, which will be devastating to the inshore fleet and our rural communities,” Cleary said. “In the longer term government must be open to outside buyers.”
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Foreign longliner accused six times within year of illegal fishing proves NAFO useless: SEA-NL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, Aug. 12, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) says the fact a Faroese longliner was allowed to return fishing after being accused on six separate occasions within the past year of serious violations proves, yet again, the enforcement regime outside Canadian waters is a horrible joke.
“That joke is on Newfoundland and Labrador when our fishing industry pays the biggest price for Ottawa’s failure to address decades of foreign overfishing,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director. “It is idiotic to conserve and protect commercial stocks in our own waters when fish have tails, and once they swim outside 200 miles they’re done for.”
The captain of the Faroe Islands longliner Bordoyarnes was issued six “notices of infringement” between September, 2021 and July of this year for violations while fishing halibut on the tail of the Grand Banks just outside Canadian waters.
Find the breakdown of the notices on this DFO webpage: https://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/international/mcs-citations-eng.htm
The term “notices of infringement” is used because under rules of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO), which oversees fishing on the high seas outside 200 miles, it is up to the home country of an accused vessel to follow through with an investigation, and possible penalties.
All six notices were categorized as serious as they relate to the misreporting of catches, and were issued by DFO Fishery Officers during separate inspections — once at sea, and the remainder when the ship unloaded halibut in Bay Roberts.
Unlike most countries, the continental shelf off eastern Canada extends beyond 200 miles, leaving migratory stocks vulnerable once they cross over to international or NAFO waters. NAFO as toothless, unable to enforce the quotes it sets.
Christian Mathisen, captain of the Bordoyarnes, contacted SEA-NL last September after a post was published about the initial two notices of infraction against him.
He described those notices as the result of a misunderstanding, and accused “pirate” offshore factory-freezer trawlers of destroying the Grand Banks by directing for moratorium species such as cod and other illegal fishing activities.
Mathisen said Canadian enforcement officers were aware of what was happening, but told him their hands are tied during the pandemic because Covid-19 protocols prevent at-sea boardings and inspections.
This summer a source aboard a Canadian Coast Guard patrol ship confirmed foreign draggers were denying boarding requests by declaring there was Covid aboard ship. The source said the patrol ship went weeks without a single boarding.
SEA-NL filed a formal request under the federal Access to Information Act for the number of successful/unsuccessful boardings/inspections of foreign trawlers outside the 200-mile limit between March 2020, when the pandemic began, and this past April.
DFO denied the request under sections of the Act that state information may be withheld if its release may be “injurious” to international relations. or contains information confidentially supplied by a third party.
“Newfoundland and Labrador obviously play second fiddle to Ottawa's relations with other countries,” Cleary said. “Our fishery must become priority 1.”
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Contact: Ryan Cleary 682 4862
SEA-NL calls for elimination of province’s farcical system of fish pricing before fisheries lost
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Friday, July 15, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) is calling for the elimination of the provincial government's final-offer system of fish pricing in favour of direct negotiations between the union and processors until contracts are hammered out that both sides respect.
“There is no point in government being involved in negotiating the price of fish when its appointed panel does not have the power to enforce one price or the other, and its decisions do not result in commercial fisheries,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director.
“The existing system has collapsed with processors refusing to buy for the prices that are set, and inshore fleets remaining tied to the wharf,” he added. “Both sides must stick it out at the negotiating table until a contract is hammered out like with any other collective agreement.”
Under the final-offer selection system of fish pricing, a provincial government-appointed panel steps in when the FFAW-Unifor, and Association of Seafood Producers can’t reach a deal on the price of a particular species.
The panel must choose one price or the other, with its final decision “binding” on both sides. However, most prices set by the panel to date this year have not resulted in fisheries, as is the case with northern shrimp, sea cucumber, east coast capelin, and likely squid.
In the case of snow crab, processors have attempted to pay far less than the panel price of $6.15/lb by charging owner-operators for services like transportation that in precious years were covered by the negotiated price.
Speculation is processors haven't made a killing at snow crab this year like they did in 2021, and are squeezing every last cent from every other price.
“Government must move immediately or a number of fisheries may not happen this year, which will be devastating to the inshore fleet and our rural communities,” Cleary said. “In the longer term government must be open to outside buyers.”
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SEA-NL welcomes review of government-controlled fish pricing system
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, July 21st, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) welcomes a review of the province’s collective bargaining model for fish pricing in light of the chaos in this year’s industry with prices that have failed to kick-start commercial fisheries.
“It's welcome news the fish-pricing model will be reviewed and overhauled to ensure consistent, fair-market return to the inshore fleet,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director. “Just as important is that the wild commercial fisheries have finally caught the attention of the Premier Andrew Furey administration.”
The news of a review of the collective bargaining model for fish pricing in this province comes days after SEA-NL called for the elimination of the “farcical system” before entire fisheries are lost.
Under the final-offer selection system of fish pricing — which is unique to this province — a government-appointed panel steps in when the union and processors/buyers fail to reach a deal on the price to be paid to the inshore fleet for a particular species.
Legislation dictates the panel must choose one price or the other, with its final decision “binding” on both sides. However, some prices set by the panel this year have resulted in delayed fisheries (sea cucumber), while others (northern shrimp, east coast capelin) have yet to start.
In the case of northern shrimp, processors wouldn’t buy for the panel’s spring price of $1.42/lb, and then the inshore fleet wouldn’t fish for the panel’s summer price of 90¢/lb.
Government has reportedly appointed a mediator to meet today with the union and processors over the shrimp price. Meanwhile, the shrimp fleet is expected to head to sea today after Ocean Choice International agreed to an interim price of $1.20/lb.
In the case of snow crab, in recent weeks at least one processor has attempted to pay less than the latest “binding” panel price of $6.15/lb by charging owner-operators for services like trucking that in precious years were covered by the negotiated price.
David Conway, chair of the province’s Labour Relations Board, will carry out the review of the collective bargaining model, which was introduced in 2006. Under the model, strikes or lockouts are prohibited, and panel decisions on prices are binding, meaning prices are not voted on by the fleets.
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Panel-system of fish pricing has collapsed: SEA-NL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, July 4th, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) says the panel system of fish pricing in this province has collapsed, with the panel either setting prices that will not result in a fishery, or processors ignoring prices and unilaterally setting their own.
SEA-NL is calling on the provincial government to immediately step in and restore confidence in fish pricing.
“The panel system has become a joke not only here in Newfoundland and Labrador, but with fishermen right around Eastern Canada laughing at us,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s executive director.
In mid-May the provincial government-appointed price-setting panel set the latest price for snow crab paid to the inshore fleet at $6.15/lb.
Processors refused to buy crab for that price, but then last week Green’s Seafood Ltd. — a buyer whose crab is processed at Quinlan’s Bay de Verde operation — began charging inshore boats for services such as ice, offloading, discharging, freight and logistics that were always included in the price paid to fishermen for their catch.
Owner-operators figure the new charges would drive down the snow crab price to $3.70/lb from $6.15/lb.
Green’s has told owner-operators they must sign a paper agreeing to the news costs or the company will not buy from them.
The information has been forwarded to provincial Fisheries Minister Derek Bragg.
“That's a bold-faced violation of the collective agreement between the FFAW and Association of Seafood Producers, and a clear sign that the province's panel system of fish pricing has collapsed,” Cleary said.
“The panel is now officially useless. Paying one cent less than $6.15/lb for crab is a breach of the binding price or collective agreement that the panel imposed on May 16th.”
In its written decision last week that set the summer shrimp price at 90¢/lb, the panel said the final price may not result in a fishery — and it hasn’t.
“The panel members should have resigned when they wrote that given the impossibility of the challenge they faced,” Cleary added. “The panel system of fish pricing in this province is unravelling on the watch of Fisheries Minister Derek Bragg, and so far he and his government aren’t doing a tap about it.”
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Make-or-break moment for province’s Liberal MPs; seal vote goes before Parliament on Wednesday
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, June 13th, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) is calling on the province’s six Liberal Members of Parliament to vote for a bill before Parliament Wednesday (July 15th) that would force Fisheries and Oceans to implement seal management plans.
“This is one of those make-or-break moments for our Members of Parliament when they must decide whether they represent Newfoundland and Labrador in Ottawa or the other way around,” says Ryan Cleary, Executive Director of SEA-NL, and a former NDP MP. “Seals eat fish just as surely as MPs need votes.”
Bill C-251 calls on the federal minister of Fisheries and Oceans to develop management plans for pinnipeds — including seals, sea lions, and walruses on the East and West coasts and Northern Canada.
The province’s lone Opposition MP, Conservative Clifford Small (Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame), is behind the private members’ bill — support for which from the province’s six Liberal MPs (including cabinet ministers Seamus O’Regan, and Gudie Hutchings) is reportedly “questionable.”
That’s despite the fact Small has said publicly he’s open to amendments to the legislation, which also includes yearly pinniped censuses, addressing trade barriers to the sale of seal products, and the use of anti-predator mechanisms around fishing grounds.
In May, the report of a federal seal science task force recommended that fish stock rebuilding plans in Atlantic Canada include the impact of seals, a recommendation first made 32 years ago by the Leslie Harris report on the state of the northern cod stock.
In response to the task team report, federal Fisheries and Oceans Minster Joyce Murray acknowledged that “seals eat fish,” with DFO planning a seal summit in St. John’s for this coming fall.
The harp seal population alone off Eastern Canada increased to an estimated 7.6 million in 2019 — the largest North Atlantic harp seal population in recorded history — from about two million animals in the 1970s.
SEA-NL is a non-profit organization that represents the province’s licensed, independent, inshore owner-operator fish harvesters.
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SEA-NL demands province allow inshore fleet to truck snow crab out of province
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Saturday, June 11, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) demands the provincial government allow owner-operators to truck snow crab out of province given some local processors have stopped buying.
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“If processors will not buy crab then fishermen who can find mainland buyers must be able to truck out their crab or the entire industry will shut down,” says Jason Sullivan, President of SEA-NL and a Bay Bulls fisherman. “There are no jobs left to protect.”
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At least two processing companies, Notre Dame Seafoods and Quinlan’s, reportedly stopped buying crab on Friday (June 10th).
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The news follows a May 30th press release in which the Association of Seafood Producers, which represents most of the province’s fish processors/buyers, said plants would be limiting or stopping snow crab production because the market is “not operating as usual.”
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According to DFO’s most recent statistics, 27% or almost 14,000 tonnes of the province’s 50,000-tonne 2022 snow crab quota remains in the water.
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Snow crab is the province’s most lucrative fishery, with a 2021 landed value of $623 million that was projected to grow to more than $800 million this year given the price, and 32% quota increase.
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The price per pound paid to the inshore fleet began the 2022 season at $7.60, the same as last year, but dropped to $6.15 in mid May.
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Processors have also refused to pay the currency provision that takes into account the US-Canada exchange rate, which should have increased the price of crab to the inshore fleet to $6.22/lb for three weeks in May.
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Fisherman who vowed to dump shrimp if no buyer found suffers vessel breakdown; threat stands
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, June 8th, 2022
The La Scie fisherman who vowed to dump his first load of northern shrimp for the season if no buyer steps forward returned to port today without any catch after his fishing boat suffered mechanical problems at sea.
But Terry Ryan says he expects the Atlantic Bluefin Too will be repaired as early as Friday, and he plans to follow through with his pledge.
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“Full-steam ahead,” says Ryan, who operates the enterprise with his son, Josh, the skipper and licence-holder.
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Terry Ryan threatened to dump the shrimp at an estimated loss of $100,000 if there’s no buyer as a protest over the province’s panel system of fish pricing.
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Under the panel system, when the FFAW and processors can’t reach agreement on the price of a particular species to be paid to the inshore fleet, the decision goes to a provincial government-appointed, three-person panel.
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Both sides put forward a price, and by law the panel must choose one or the other — nowhere in between.
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In the case of shrimp, on April 24th the panel choose the $1.42/lb offered by the FFAW over the 90¢/lb put forward by the Association of Seafood Producers.
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Only processors have been refusing to buy for that amount (even though the best fishing is in the spring), and boats in the Gulf and off the northeast coast and southern Labrador remain tied up despite the fishery opening on May 29th.
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A market report prepared for the panel on this year’s northern shrimp fishery predicted “good demand, low inventories, and higher prices.”
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The Ryan’s estimated $100,000 loss is based on a shrimp catch of 50,000 pounds, plus wages for the crew, supplies, and the cost of fuel.
While prices for species such as cod, northern shrimp, and snow crab are decided by the price-setting panel if the union and processors fail to agree, other species such as halibut have their own pricing system based on actual market returns.
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Shrimp fisherman vows to dump catch if buyer doesn’t step forward; price-setting panel not working: SEA-NL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, May 24th, 2022
La Scie fisherman Terry Ryan threatens to dump his first load of northern shrimp for the season at an estimated loss of $100,000 if there’s no buyer when the catch lands at the wharf early next week.
“The panel system of fish pricing in this province is not working, and that point must be hammered home,” says Ryan, who together with son Josh operate the Atlantic Bluefin Too. “The fishery needs a good shake, and that’s what we plan to give it.”
While the minimum price paid to the inshore fleet for northern shrimp was set on April 24th — and the inshore fishery off southern Labrador and northeaster Newfoundland (shrimp fishing area 6) opened on May 29th — owner-operators have yet to leave the wharf.
Processors reportedly aren’t prepared to pay the minimum price of $1.42/lb as set by the province’s fish price-setting panel, despite the fact a market report prepared for the panel on this year’s shrimp fishery predicts “good demand, low inventories, and higher prices.”
The panel also recommended the inshore fleet catch more shrimp in spring when yields are at their best, which hasn’t happened in recent years.
“The price-setting panel clearly isn’t working when its prices and recommendations are not respected, and fleet remain tied up at the wharf,” says Ryan Cleary, Executive Director of SEA-NL. “
Terry Ryan said his son hopes to start fishing shrimp on Sunday, and if there's no buyer for the 50,000/lbs they expect to have aboard by late Monday/early Tuesday when the vessel lands, the catch will be dumped. The estimated $100,000 loss includes the value of the catch, wages for the crew, supplies, and the cost of fuel.
“The initial reason for establishing the panel was a good one — to avoid buyers not buying, and fishermen not fishing,” said Ryan. “but that’s exactly where we find ourselves again today.”
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SEA-NL supports province's move to increase snow crab processing capacity
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, May 24th, 2022
A week after Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL)
recommended an increase in snow crab processing capacity as a means to reduce pressure on the inshore fleet to fish in potentially unsafe conditions, and the provincial government has done just that.
“More competition in the processing sector should mean more opportunity for inshore boats to land crab quotas faster, with less expense, and safer for all hands,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director.
The province’s Fish Processing Licensing Board today approved two of four applications for fish processing licenses — including a new primary processing license for groundfish, whelk, and snow crab (2.5 million/lbs) for St. Mary’s Bay Fisheries Ltd., and doubling the amount of crab Dandy Dan’s Fish Market of Argentia can purchase to two million pounds per year.
Workers at some crab processing operations around the province including St. Lawrence, Bonavista, and Brigus protested against the issuance of more licenses, arguing the move will mean less work at existing plants.
However, the limited amount of processing capacity in the province resulted in processors imposing trip limits and fishing schedules on the inshore fleet — pressuring enterprise owners to fish in questionable weather or to catch their quotas before soft shell or moulting crab shuts down a fishery and the quotas are lost.
“More crab processing capacity will take pressure off the inshore fleet, and that’s what SEA-NL was after,” said Cleary.
The snow crab quota has been on the rise in waters around the province for several years. The 2022 total allowable catch for snow crab is just over 50,000 tonnes, only 6,000 tonnes less than 2010. However, 11 years ago there were 36 snow crab processing licenses in the province, compared to 25 today.
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SEA-NL calls for public inquiry into fishing vessel safety, search and rescue
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, May 20th, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) is calling for a joint, federal/provincial commission of inquiry into fishing vessel safety, and search and rescue response in this province to investigate why incidents and deaths at sea are on the rise.
“There is no greater indictment of serious, systemic problems with fishing vessel safety and search and rescue than the rise in mariner deaths,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director.
“Fishing is already one of the most dangerous occupations in the world without lax government oversight increasing those risks.”
SEA-NL recommends that an inquiry into fishing vessel safety and search and rescue in the province investigate from four fronts — fisheries management, Transport Canada regulations, safety at sea, and search and rescue.
“The Transportation Safety board has been reporting on commercial fishing deficiencies for the last three decades and it’s been on their watchlist for 12 years, and every year the same safety deficiencies aboard fishing vessels continue to put the lives of thousands of harvesters at risk,” says Merv Wiseman, a member of SEA-NL’s executive board, and advocate for vessel safety and search and rescue.
The Transportation Safety Board released an investigative report this week into the 2020 sinking of the fishing vessel Sarah Anne in Placentia Bay, which claimed the lives of four south coast fishermen.
The report found that the vessel hadn’t been inspected since its construction in 1980, 40 years before. The investigation also found that the boat had been operating outside its safe operating limits, which the skipper and crew had no way of knowing.
“The fact that more than 4,000 small boats from the under 35’ fleet are registered with Fisheries and Oceans than with Transport Canada screams that fishery management regulations have taken precedence over fishing safety,” said Wiseman. “The Government of Canada has lost its way in that regard.”
SEA-NL has warned that trip limits and fishing schedules in the ongoing snow crab fishery can pressure owner-operators to fish in dangerous conditions, and are an accident waiting to happen.
“Owner-operators often find themselves fishing in dangerous conditions,” said Wiseman. “They should never be pressured into those dangerous conditions.”
SEA-NL will make a formal written request to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier Andrew Furey for a commission of inquiry with the power to subpoena witnesses, take evidence under oath, and request documents.
Between 2018 and 2020 there were 45 harvester fatalities on fishing vessels of all sizes and all types of occurrences — the highest fatality count in a three-year period in more than 20 years.
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SEA-NL supports province issuing new snow crab processing licenses
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, May 17th, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) supports the issuance of new snow crab processing licenses as the quickest way to increase industry capacity, and reduce pressure on the inshore fleet to fish in potentially unsafe conditions.
“We see more processing licenses as the quickest way to take pressure off the inshore fleet,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s executive director. “More competition in the processing sector should mean more opportunity for inshore boats to land crab quotas faster, with less expense, and safer for all hands.”
The province’s Fish Processing Licensing Board is reportedly considering four applications for snow crab processing licenses around the province, including one for St. Mary’s.
The licensing board has made a recommendation regarding the St. Mary’s application, but provincial Fisheries Minister Derek Bragg is said to be meeting with the board today before making a final decision.
Workers at some crab processing operations around the province including St. Lawrence, Bonavista, and Brigus have protested against the issuance of more licenses, arguing the move will mean less work at existing plants.
At the same time, the limited amount of processing capacity in the province has resulted in processors imposing trip limits and fishing schedules on the inshore fleet, which lost millions of dollars when they weren’t able to catch their quotas before Monday when the price dropped to $6.15/lb from $7.60/lb.
But the even bigger concern is the pressure that trip limits and fishing schedules put on enterprise owners to fish in questionable weather or to catch their quotas before soft shell or moulting crab shut down a fishery and the quotas are lost.
“More crab processing capacity will take pressure off the inshore fleet, and that’s the bottom line for SEA-NL,” said Cleary.
He added that over the longer term the province must correct the incredible power imbalance between owner-operators and processors by allowing in outside buyers, considering an auction system for fish pricing, and lobbying Ottawa to include fish pricing with amendments to the federal Competition Act.
“It’s critical the power imbalance be corrected so the inshore fleet is on the same footing as the processing sector,” Cleary said. “Anything less is unacceptable.”
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Impact of foreign overfishing as bad as seals; must also be addressed: SEA-NL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, May 13th, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) congratulates the Government of Canada for finally recognizing that seals eat fish, but reminds Ottawa that foreign overfishing on/off the Grand Banks is as destructive as ever to commercial stocks.
“Seals aren’t the only killer of fish stocks,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director. “It’s still the wild west outside the 200-mile limit in terms of overfishing by foreign factory-freezer draggers.”
Federal Fisheries and Oceans Minister Joyce Murray said Thursday more research is needed on the impact of seals on dwindling East Coast fish stocks in response to a report that said DFO’s science doesn't go far enough.
DFO, however, must consider all factors — including foreign overfishing — on the health of battered East Coast fish stocks.
Unlike most countries, Canada’s continental shelf off eastern Newfoundland and Labrador extends beyond 200 miles, leaving migratory stocks such as northern cod exposed to foreign overfishing once they swim to the high seas.
High seas fishing on the nose and tail of the Grand Banks, and rich nearby fishing grounds like the Flemish Cap, are regulated by the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO), which is seen as toothless, unable to enforce the quotas it sets.
Under NAFO rules, Canada cannot charge a foreign dragger with illegal fishing. Rather, it is left to the vessel’s home country to investigate a complaint or “notice of infringement” issued by Canadian enforcement officers, and follow up with possible penalties/court action, which amount to a slap on the wrist.
This past March, the Portuguese offshore factory-freezer trawler Nova Virgem Da Barca was issued the fifth “notice of infringement” in six years for fishing violations that include misreporting catches, use of undersized mesh, and observer intimidation.
“It’s obvious that Canadian enforcement actions are not cutting it as a deterrent to foreign overfishing,” Cleary said.
Last October the captain of a Faroe Islands longliner accused "pirate trawlers" of destroying the Grand Banks under the nose of Fisheries and Oceans by directing for moratorium species such as cod and other illegal fishing activities.
“The impact of foreign overfishing on our domestic fisheries may be as big or bigger than that of seals, and Ottawa must act on both fronts,” said Cleary.
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Trip limits must be addressed in crab fishery or Furey government may have blood on its hands: SEA-NL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, May 3rd, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) is demanding Premier Andrew Furey address trip limits in the snow crab fishery or his government may have blood on its hands before the end of the fishing season.
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“The inshore fleet has one of the most dangerous jobs without trip limits adding to the risk, and then owner-operators being told when to fish, and when not to fish,” says Ryan Cleary, Executive Director of SEA-NL.
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“Trip limits put pressure on enterprise owners — who are also dealing with the threat of a price drop, and fishery closures in the case of molting or soft-shell crab — to fish in weather they would not ordinarily fish in,” he said. “If government stands idly by and lives are lost this crab fishing season the province will have to answer for them directly.”
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Snow crab buyers brought in trip limits last week on the inshore fleet to slow down the amount landed. Many boats were tied to the wharf this past weekend when the weather was good, only to be told today they can head to sea on Wednesday.
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Larger inshore boats have weekly trip limits of 20,000/lbs and up, while some smaller boats in the fleet are capped at 3,000/lb. With trip limits, a crab quota that could be landed in a week could take a month or longer to bring in.
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Enterprise owners are forced to make more trips to sea in weather that’s worsening with climate change, and driving up fishing costs by thousands of dollars for fuel alone.
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“Trip limits and being told when to fish are an accident waiting to happen,” says Merv Wiseman, an outspoken advocate for fishing vessel safety who also sits on SEA-NL’s executive board. “The economic pressure on fish harvesters to meet trip limits imposed by processors means they will go to sea in unsafe conditions.”
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While trip limits are forced on the inshore fleet, snow crab is reportedly being trucked into the province for processing at local plants from the Maritimes and Quebec, as well as from the French islands of St-Pierre-Miquelon.
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“It is unacceptable that local buyers are allowed to bring in crab for processing while the inshore fleet is held hostage, and it is illegal for them to truck out their crab,” said Cleary.
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The FFAW-Unifor has been quiet on the issue of trip limits, but then the union is in a conflict of interest in representing workers at unionized crab plants like those owned by Ocean Choice International (which brought in trip limits) while also representing the inshore fleet.
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SEA-NL takes the stand that the provincial government should immediately allow out-of-province buyers to operate here on a level playing field with local processors/buyers.
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SEA-NL also called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last week to include fish price negotiations under the federal Competition Act, which is under active review.
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To date, 29% of this year’s 50,470-tonne snow crab quota for Newfoundland and Labrador has been landed.
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SEA-NL calls on Trudeau government to include fish pricing in Competition Act
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, April 26th, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) is calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to include fish pricing in the federal Competition Act with planned amendments to the legislation.
“The only industry in Canada excluded from the federal Competition Act is the Newfoundland and Labrador fishery, and the inshore fleet pays the price in terms of less money for their fish,” says Ryan Cleary, Executive Director of SEA-NL.
In the federal budget released earlier this month, the Trudeau government revealed plans to make amendments to toughen Canadian competition laws. As part of those changes, government pledged to tackle anti-competitive conspiracies between competitors that hurt workers.
Fish price negotiations in this province — the structure of which was described last year by the premier’s economy recovery team as “anti-competitive by nature” — are excluded from the federal Competition Act (Section 4).
“In Newfoundland and Labrador processors can import snow crab from the Maritimes and Quebec for processing at local plants, while those same processors can order the inshore fleet — which can’t access outside buyers — tied to the wharf on trip limits,” Cleary said.
“How is that fair in terms of competition?” asked Cleary, who will put the formal request in writng to the Prime Minister. “Fish prices paid to our owner-operators are too often much less than the prices paid to fleets across the Gulf, and that fundamental unfairness can only end when the playing field is levelled in terms of fair competition.”
Owner-operators in this province often complain they cannot move freely between buyers/processors, and processing companies have been accused of working together as a cartel to keep fish fish prices down.
Cleary said that the panel system of fish pricing — which is exclusive to Newfoundland and Labrador, and enshrined in provincial government legislation — often does not result in the inshore fleet getting a fair market share from the sale of fish.
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Contact Ryan Cleary: 709 682 4862
Website: sea-nl.ca
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) is calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to include fish pricing in the federal Competition Act with planned amendments to the legislation.
“The only industry in Canada excluded from the federal Competition Act is the Newfoundland and Labrador fishery, and the inshore fleet pays the price in terms of less money for their fish,” says Ryan Cleary, Executive Director of SEA-NL.
In the federal budget released earlier this month, the Trudeau government revealed plans to make amendments to toughen Canadian competition laws. As part of those changes, government pledged to tackle anti-competitive conspiracies between competitors that hurt workers.
Fish price negotiations in this province — the structure of which was described last year by the premier’s economy recovery team as “anti-competitive by nature” — are excluded from the federal Competition Act (Section 4).
“In Newfoundland and Labrador processors can import snow crab from the Maritimes and Quebec for processing at local plants, while those same processors can order the inshore fleet — which can’t access outside buyers — tied to the wharf on trip limits,” Cleary said.
“How is that fair in terms of competition?” asked Cleary, who will put the formal request in writng to the Prime Minister. “Fish prices paid to our owner-operators are too often much less than the prices paid to fleets across the Gulf, and that fundamental unfairness can only end when the playing field is levelled in terms of fair competition.”
Owner-operators in this province often complain they cannot move freely between buyers/processors, and processing companies have been accused of working together as a cartel to keep fish fish prices down.
Cleary said that the panel system of fish pricing — which is exclusive to Newfoundland and Labrador, and enshrined in provincial government legislation — often does not result in the inshore fleet getting a fair market share from the sale of fish.
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Contact Ryan Cleary: 709 682 4862
Website: sea-nl.ca
Mackerel fishery closed, but inshore fleet still want their licenses: SEA-NL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, April 22, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) is calling on Fisheries and Oceans to continue issuing mackerel licenses to existing license holders in the inshore fleet even though the fishery is closed.
“Owner-operators want to know their mackerel licenses are safe, and will be there for them when the fishery reopens,” says Ryan Cleary, Executive Director of SEA-NL. “Many of them do not trust DFO, there’s no other way to put it.”
“A mackerel license represents a major investment of many thousands of dollars — not just for the license itself — but in terms of the fishing enterprise and gear, and owner-operators want to keep their licenses even if it is just for the privilege of not fishing them.”
Ottawa closed the East Coast mackerel fishery at the end of March, and shut down directed fishing for spring herring in the southern Gulf.
Shortly after, DFO stopped posting mackerel licenses for renewal on its National Online Licensing System (NOLS), which generated immediate reaction from mackerel fishermen around the province.
Boyd Lavers of Port Saunders on the Great Northern Peninsula has fished millions of pounds of mackerel over the 18 years he’s been at it, and insists on continuing to renew his license, and pay the annual fee even though the fishery is closed.
“We want the mackerel licenses put back on NOLS so we can pay our fees, and we’ll know then that we’ll have our licenses for when the fishery reopens,” said Lavers. “We may never be able to fish mackerel again, but for a fee I'll take my chances."
A DFO official has told SEA-NL that members of the inshore fleet are not required to renew their mackerel licenses to maintain eligibility as long as the fishery remains closed for conservation reasons, “as provided by the current commercial fisheries licensing policy for eastern Canada.”
“Only federal fishery policy can change at the whim of the federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans of the day,” said Cleary.
While the Canadian mackerel fishery is closed, the United States continues fishing the same migratory stock with a 4,963-tonne mackerel quota this year.
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Not enough Russian head of NAFO has stepped down; country must be expelled/fish quotas transferred to Ukraine: SEA-NL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, April 5th, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) says it’s not enough that the Russian president and chair of the international organization that manages fish stock inside and outside Canada’s 200-mile limit has stepped down.
The Russian Federation itself must be expelled from the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization, with the country’s thousands of tonnes of quotas transferred to the Ukraine — another member of the 13-country organization.
“Russia has violated every protocol on the face of the earth with its war on Ukraine, and its membership in NAFO should be cancelled outright, and its fish quotas transferred,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director.
“Russian seafood is banned around the world, so it stands to reason that its offshore dragger fleet should not be permitted to fish as a NAFO-member country.”
Russian quotas in NAFO waters include thousands of tonnes of redfish, skate, turbot, cod, flounder, hake and squid.
On Feb. 28th, SEA-NL first questioned publicly whether Russia should be kicked out of NAFO, and its offshore dragger fleet banned from fishing outside Canadian waters as another message to President Vladimir Putin that his invasion of the Ukraine is unacceptable.
The CBC reported today (April 5th) that Temur Tairov of the Russian Federation — who was elected President of NAFO and Chair of the Commission in September 2021 — had resigned on March 2th.
While the resignation was reportedly for health reasons, there’s speculation Tairov would have been asked to step aside. American Deirdre Warner-Kramer has taken over as acting chair of NAFO.
In March, Canada and six other countries left the Arctic Council over Russia’s war in Ukraine. Russia was also suspended last month from the International Council from the Exploration of the Seas.
A spokesperson for federal Fisheries and Oceans Minister Joyce Murray said Russia would be better in than out of NAFO, given that country would no longer be bound by any quota or enforcement measure.
SEA-NL and other NAFO critics take the stand that NAFO is a toothless organization, powerless to enforce the quotas it sets. That said, the frequency of non-member NAFO countries pirating fish stocks on the high seas has severely tapered off in recent years.
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SEA-NL calls for Derek Butler’s resignation from Association of Seafood Producers
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, March 30th, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador, representing owner-operators in the inshore fleet, is calling for the resignation of the executive director of the association representing buyers/processors after publicly criticizing the province’s snow crab resource.
“Derek Butler said on NTV News Tuesday that our snow crab is second-rate compared to product from the Maritimes, worth 30% less,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director. “For the spokesman for seafood companies in this province to say that publicly shows poor judgement, and reflects poorly on what is the best snow crab in the world. He must no longer speak for industry.”
Butler told NTV that snow crab caught in the Maritimes is a better product than snow crab from this province, worth up to $3/lb more because it’s a “different product” — “no barnacles, redder crab, bigger crab, better yields, and closer to markets.”
In fact, snow crab from other East Coast provinces is often shipped into Newfoundland and Labrador for processing with locally caught crab.
Butler also said that in “given years” the province’s inshore fleet takes 70% or more of the market value. SEA-NL challenged Butler to release all financial information on snow crab sales.
“Derek Butler can cherry pick numbers till the cows come home, but he can’t explain why the processors he represents, who have exclusive buying rights to Newfoundland and Labrador seafood, are prepared to pay our inshore fleet up to $4.40/lb less than on the wharf in Nova Scotia,” said Jason Sullivan, President of SEA-NL.
The province’s price-setting panel was scheduled to meet Tuesday to hear a motion by the Association of Seafood Producers to remove Earle McCurdy, with another hearing scheduled for today (March 30) on the snow crab price.
As collective bargaining agent, the FFAW-Unifor has laid $9.05/lb on the table to start the 2022 season, compared to the ASP’s $7.60/lb, a rollover of last years’ price.
At the same time, the price paid last week on a wharf in Nova Scotia for snow crab there was $12/lb.
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SEA-NL launches petition urging Ottawa to change status of non-core licenses
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, March 4th, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) has launched a petition urging the House of Commons to change the status of non-core groundfish licenses so they can be sold or handed down.
“Non-core license holders are treated like second-class fishermen,” says Jason Sullivan, President of SEA-NL, the distinct voice of the province’s licensed owner-operators. “That must end based on safety-at-sea, and fairness.”
DFO’s licensing policy for Newfoundland and Labrador states that non-core groundfish licenses are not eligible for reissuance, meaning they die with the inshore owner-operators who hold them.
DFO brought in the non-core policy in the 1990s after the collapse of the commercial cod fisheries to reduce the number of fishermen.
The policy has been effective: the 3,311 licensed fishermen in the province at the end of 2020 (including 492 non-core) represented an 83% decline from 1992 when there were more than 20,000 licensed harvesters in the province.
However, the non-core policy unfairly targeted many fishermen who — despite having a historical attachment to the fishery — held other jobs, and did not/could not depend on the fishery as their primary or sole source of income.
Many worked on fishing boats whereby money from a fish sale was put in a single fisherman’s name, and so they couldn’t prove attachment to the fishery, with little support, financial or otherwise, to appeal their non-core designation.
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Inshore harvesters don't have pension plans, and often use money from the sale of their licenses to fund their retirement. That can't happen with non-core licence holders, many of whom have deteriorating health, but continue to work despite the risks.
Those risks are amplified by the fact their non-core status restricts their boat length to 28 feet at a time when the East Coast climate is becoming increasingly unpredictable in fisheries that extend later into the fall.
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The federal court recently ordered the federal minister of Fisheries and Oceans to reconsider a decision not to allow certain lobster licenses in the Maritimes to be sold or handed down.
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SEA-NL wrote the minister in January to ask that she reconsider similar non-core groundfish licenses in this province at the same time.
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The petition can be found on the Parliament of Canada website, and is based on a resolution passed in early February at SEA-NL’s founding convention. The petition is open to all Canadians to sign, and will be presented by Coast of Bays-Central-Notre Dame Conservative MP Clifford Small.
Find the petition here: https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-3862
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Overwhelming support for extending length of inshore fishing boats: SEA-NL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, March 3rd, 2022
The province’s inshore owner-operator fish harvesters overwhelmingly support extending the maximum length of fishing boats in their fleet for safety reasons, and to fall in line with the rest of Atlantic Canada.
“The message from the inshore fleet is clear that the days of chopping off boats are over,” says Jason Sullivan, President of Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador, the distinct voice of the province’s licensed, owner-operators. “Fisheries and Oceans has gotten the message loud and clear that the policy must change.”
DFO recently held a string of seven virtual outreach meetings around the province to hear directly from inshore harvesters about issues impacting their fleets, with the question of fishing-vessel length front-and-centre on the agenda.
The vast majority of the owner-operators spoke in favour of extending the maximum length of inshore boats to 49’11 from 39’11 to fall in line with inshore fleets in the rest of Atlantic Canada. Vessel lengths range from less than 50’ in DFO’s Maritime and Quebec regions to less than 45’ in the Gulf region.
Owner-operators in this province who purchase used, over 40’ fishing vessels from elsewhere in Atlantic Canada are forced to cut them in length at huge expense, often giving the vessels an “ugly” snub-nose appearance, and making them square to the water. The practice doesn’t impact a vessel’s carrying capacity, and often raises stability questions.
Owner-operators said their No. 1 reason for wanting the change is safety at sea in light of changing climatic conditions.
“Transport Canada and DFO preach safety, so now please let us practice safety,” said Sullivan, echoing sentiments expressed at the meetings.
Restricting inshore boats to less than 40’ also doesn’t make sense in that while DFO regulates vessel length, the department doesn't regulate vessel width — and vessels that were built 16-feet wide in the early 1990s are built up to 28-feet wide today. Newer under 40' vessels today have greater capacity than older 65 footers.
DFO officials said surveys will be e-mailed in the coming days to the province’s roughly 2,800 owner-operators (including 600 in the over 40’ fleet) for their final word on vessel length, but an official acknowledged the message from owner-operators was clear that change is necessary.
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SEA-NL up and running as ‘distinct voice’ of skippers, licensed inshore owner-operators
SEA-NL up and running as ‘distinct voice’ of skippers, licensed inshore owner-operators
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, Feb. 22nd, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) elected its first executive during a founding convention earlier this month, and the Board’s first order of business was to hire an Executive Director.
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“Licensed inshore harvesters finally have an organization to serve as their distinct voice, and their voice alone,” says Jason Sullivan, a Bay Bulls fisherman who was elected SEA-NL President during the virtual convention.
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Other members of the SEA-NL executive include: Bruce Layman of Carbonear, Secretary-Treasurer; Preston Grandy of Garnish, Captain Under 40’ Fleet; and Kenneth Courtney of Francois, Captain Over 40’ Fleet.
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As well, Merv Wiseman, an outspoken advocate for fishing vessel safety/search and rescue, will serve on the board in an ex-officio capacity.
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SEA-NL’s new Board met recently, and its first order of business was to hire Ryan Cleary to serve as Executive Director. Cleary, who along with Wiseman spent months organizing SEA-NL, also led the FISH-NL union movement, served as a Member of Parliament, and is a career journalist.
During SEA-NL’s convention eight resolutions were passed by the membership to help guide the organization in terms of policy.
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Resolutions included: changing DFO policy so that non-core groundfish licenses can be sold/transferred; increased search and rescue for Labrador; allowing for more price reconsiderations under the province’s panel system of fish pricing; a ban on bottom-trawling for cod in 3Ps; the adoption of the adjacency principle; a standard fishing vessel-length policy for Atlantic Canada; a no-discard policy for this province’s herring fishery; and a change to allow for hook and line in marine protected areas.
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Find the resolutions here: https://www.sea-nl.ca/convention2021
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Contact: Ryan Cleary
sea-nl@outlook.com
SEA-NL calls for independent investigation of DFO operations in province
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, Jan. 25th, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) is calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to order an independent investigation of the operations of the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans in the province amid alarming allegations of political interference raised by the CBC.
“DFO’s last shred of credibility in this province is on the line,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s interim Executive Director.
“The allegations by the union representing DFO scientists not only call into question the department’s faith in itself, but what little faith inshore harvesters and all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians have left in DFO to manage the wild commercial fisheries.”
The allegations by the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, the union representing DFO scientists in the province, are reportedly outlined in a November letter to the federal deputy minister of Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
Cleary notes that CBC NL has not released the letter, but has reported extensively on allegations said to be outlined in the document. The allegations include that scientific advice was altered, and that DFO “exhibited a pattern where interference with scientific work is commonplace.”
The allegations accuse lobbyists, industry — including the FFAW-Unifor, and Atlantic Groundfish Council (representing the offshore dragger sector), senior bureaucrats, and at least one politician (Minister Andrew Parsons) of undermining the work of DFO scientists in the province.
In reference to Parsons, it’s alleged that as provincial Energy Minister he “lobbied DFO to change or withhold the publication of its science advice,” which he had been leaked a copy of. The science advice reportedly involved measures to protect corals and sponges during oil and gas exploration and development.
The allegations refer to a seal task team, appointed by the federal government in 2019, which the scientists’ union alleges is not an example of the scientific community collaborating, "but rather industry influencing departmental science."
The allegations also specifically refer to the altering of science advice regarding the cod stock off southern Newfoundland in fishing zone 3Ps as a possible way to manipulate the dwindling quota.
SEA-NL raised the allegations by the scientists’ union in mid-January during a virtual meeting of a DFO advisory group assigned to recommend this year’s cod quota for the 3Ps stock — calling at the time for an investigation.
In response, the Atlantic Groundfish Council wrote DFO to ask that the department reconsider inviting a SEA-NL representative to sit as an observer at future meetings.
“These are very serious allegations directed at the core of fishery management in the province, and to move forward we need the Prime Minister to order a thorough, third-party investigation supported by Premier Andrew Furey whose government is also implicated,” Cleary says.
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Contact Ryan Cleary: 709 682 4862
SEA-NL says bottom-trawling must be banned from all three adjacent cod stocks (not just two)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, Jan. 13th 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) has recommended that Fisheries and Oceans expand its ban on bottom-trawling to include all three cod stocks off the province’s shores.
“Fisheries and Oceans can not scientifically justify banning bottom-trawling for cod in two adjacent stocks when all three are in the critical zone,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s interim Executive Director.
DFO allows for bottom-trawling of the cod stock off southern Newfoundland in fishing zone 3Ps.
However, bottom-trawling is banned in the northern cod fishery off eastern Newfoundland and Labrador (fishing zones 2J,3KL), and for cod in the Gulf of St. Lawrence (fishing zones 4R/3Pn). All three cod stocks have been designated by DFO science as in the critical zone, meaning fishing must be kept to a minimum.
Cleary made the recommendation for a complete ban on bottom-trawling for all three adjacent cod stocks during a meeting Wednesday of a DFO advisory group assigned to recommend this year’s cod quota for the 3Ps stock.
“The 3Ps cod stock is no less susceptible to the impacts of bottom-trawling than northern cod or Gulf cod,” said Cleary, who took part in the virtual meeting as an observer, and was only permitted to make a statement at the end.
For 2022, the advisory group unanimously recommended rolling over the 2021 cod quota of 1,345 tonnes. A final decision will be made by federal Fisheries and Oceans Minister Joyce Murray later this winter/spring.
The FFAW-Unifor recommended the entire Canadian cod allocation be made available to the inshore fleet only, which was immediately opposed by the offshore dragger sector. Draggers use huge bottom-trawls to rake in their quota.
Cleary also called out DFO for not holding meetings with inshore harvesters on a 3Ps cod rebuilding plan, given that the FFAW, which the department looks to for the harvester perspective, also represents workers on the offshore draggers, and at plants where the cod is processed.
Concerns were raised late last year by the Professional Institute of the Public Service, representing scientists who work for the federal government, that DFO decisions specific to the 3Ps cod stock had undermined scientific “independence, excellence and integrity.
The union was critical of lobbying efforts by the FFAW and Atlantic Groundfish Council, representing the offshore sector, towards then federal Fisheries minister Bernadette Jordan.
SEA-NL called for an independent investigation to restore DFO’s credibility, and criticized DFO’s decision not to include the impact of seals on the rebuilding plan for the 3Ps stock as “scientifically negligent, or at the very least scientifically disingenuous.”
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SEA-NL says priority 1 for 2022 inshore fishery is for province to amend fish price-setting system
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, Jan. 4th, 2022
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) says an immediate priority for the 2022 inshore fishery is for the province to amend its fish price-setting system to address a weakness that cost harvesters untold millions of dollars in last year’s snow crab fishery alone.
“Inshore harvesters were not paid a fair-market return from their crab sales in 2021 because a provincial government regulation stood in the way,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s interim Executive Director.
“The regulation must be amended before the start of the 2022 season, or what little faith that exists in the price-setting system will be gone altogether.”
Under the province’s regulated system of fish pricing, when the FFAW-Unifor, as collective bargaining agent for inshore harvesters, and Association of Seafood Producers, representing processors, fail to reach an agreement on the price paid to harvesters for a particular species, the dispute is referred to the government-appointed Standing Fish Price-Setting Panel.
The panel then steps in and chooses one price or the other, with government regulation dictating that each party is limited to one request for price reconsideration per species.
In the case of snow crab, the Panel set the 2021 price at $5.73/lb on March 31st. Within weeks the FFAW used its one and only price reconsideration to see the panel lock in the final price to harvesters for the year at $7.60/lb on April 25th.
Only snow crab prices in world markets continued to rise after that almost on a weekly basis, and harvesters had no way under the government-regulated system to tap into the rising price.
SEA-NL wrote the provincial government on Nov. 5th to request that the regulation under the Standing Fish Price-Setting Panel that restricts each party to one price reconsideration per species be lifted, and the change be made prior to the start of the 2022 season.
In a Dec. 14th response, Environment and Climate Change Minister Bernard Davis, whose department is also responsible for labour, said the matter was under review, which he expected to be concluded in the “very near future.”
The Standing Fish Price Setting Panel also doesn’t have the power to force processors to reveal industry or market information on fish prices so its decisions are often blind.
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SEA-NL condemns DFO’s backroom plans for rebuilding south coast cod stock
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, Dec. 20th, 2021
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) accuses Fisheries and Oceans of orchestrating a “backroom” plan for rebuilding the cod stock off southern Newfoundland, and excluding the voice of inshore harvesters.
“Any rebuilding attempt that does not include the input of the inshore fleet is doomed,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s interim Executive Director. “When DFO leaves inshore harvesters out of the equation they get the math and science wrong, and the department is doing it again.”
DFO has assembled a working group to develop a rebuilding plan for 3Ps cod, which scientists said in November remains in the critical zone. The group includes department and union officials, fish processors, indigenous interests, and the offshore sector.
The working group held its first meeting in March, and again last week, following which the Atlantic Groudfish Council, representing the offshore, issued an internal memo to its members.
“Generally, all are aligned with potential harvest strategies that allow exploitation to be undertaken in the critical zone,” read the memo, a copy of which was forwarded to SEA-NL.
While harvest control rules have yet to be decided on, the memo said there’s pressure for agreement prior to the working group’s next meeting, scheduled for Jan. 12th.
“That sounds like the offshore draggers still expect to fish the 3Ps cod stock,” said Cleary. “That must not happen, and why this backroom rebuilding plan must be exposed.”
The fishing of pre-spawning and spawning congregations of cod on the St. Pierre Bank by offshore factory-freezer trawlers has been blamed for the failure of the 3Ps cod stock to rebound.
The inshore fleet in 3Ps had been led to believe that offshore draggers would be banned from fishing the cod stock until the quota reaches above 10,000 tonnes. Only that wasn’t the case, and offshore draggers continue to fish.
Most 3Ps inshore harvesters aren’t aware that a cod rebuilding plan is being developed, and DFO has confirmed the department doesn’t intend to hold targeted public meetings to discuss it.
While the FFAW represents inshore harvesters, the union also represents workers aboard offshore draggers, and the plants where the cod could be processed — creating an obvious and long-standing conflict of interest that will result in the inshore fleet not being properly represented.
SEA-NL is calling on DFO to hold targeted meetings with inshore harvesters in 3Ps, and to include representatives of the under and over 40’ fleets in the working group.
The 3Ps cod fishery was shut down in 1993, but reopened in 1997 with a quota of 10,000 tonnes. Since then the quota has jumped to as high as 30,000 tonnes in 1999 to this year’s low of 1,345 tonnes, half of the 2020 allocation.
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Oceans
DFO forces fishermen to shorten boats, Transport Canada fines them for it: SEA-NL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Tuesday, Dec. 7th, 2021
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) takes issue with the sudden move by Transport Canada to come down like a hammer on inshore fishermen who’ve had fishing vessels modified or cut in length without advance approval.
“Fishermen have been told for years by officials with Transport Canada, Fisheries and Oceans, and their own union that they didn’t need architectural drawings or advance approval to modify or cut a vessel to fish in the under 40’ fleet,” says Ryan Cleary, Interim Executive Director of SEA-NL.
“Now the same fishermen are being told they will be locked up, and/or slapped with million-dollar fines if they didn’t do what they were told they didn’t have to do,” added Cleary. “Sounds to me like grounds for a class-action lawsuit.”
Transport Canada officials say the owners of fishing vessels that have undergone major modifications to cut their overall length to under 40 feet — without having architectural plans (which can cost up to $30,000) approved in advance by the department — could face fines of up to $1 million and/or 18 months in jail.
The tie-ups, inspections, and possible further modifications could also cost fishermen untold tens/hundreds of thousands of dollars.
However, inshore harvesters in this province say it was never their understanding that their plans needed pre-approval. In recent years, dozens of them have purchased over 40-foot fishing vessels from the Maritimes, and had them modified (cut down) to be used in this province's under 40’ inshore fleet.
The move by Transport Canada Marine Safety and Security underscores the unfairness and chaos that comes from having two maximum base lengths for inshore fishing vessels in Eastern Canada — 39'll in Newfoundland and Labrador, and 49'11 in the Maritimes.
“DFO’s different policies amount to discrimination,” says Merv Wiseman, a long-time advocate for fishing vessel safety, and an organizer behind SEA-NL. “Why should Maritime fishermen be allowed bigger boats than ours. Is the safety of our fishermen worth any less?”
SEA-NL takes the stand that DFO should set a standard base length for all inshore fishing vessels in Atlantic Canada. Naval architects have said vessel-size restrictions are creating stability concerns in fishing vessels, and potential unsafe conditions at sea.
In June 2018 the House of Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans carried out a study of fishing vessel length in Atlantic Canada — recommending a full review of DFO's NL policy, and consultation with enterprise owners. The review was never carried out.
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Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) takes issue with the sudden move by Transport Canada to come down like a hammer on inshore fishermen who’ve had fishing vessels modified or cut in length without advance approval.
“Fishermen have been told for years by officials with Transport Canada, Fisheries and Oceans, and their own union that they didn’t need architectural drawings or advance approval to modify or cut a vessel to fish in the under 40’ fleet,” says Ryan Cleary, Interim Executive Director of SEA-NL.
“Now the same fishermen are being told they will be locked up, and/or slapped with million-dollar fines if they didn’t do what they were told they didn’t have to do,” added Cleary. “Sounds to me like grounds for a class-action lawsuit.”
Transport Canada officials say the owners of fishing vessels that have undergone major modifications to cut their overall length to under 40 feet — without having architectural plans (which can cost up to $30,000) approved in advance by the department — could face fines of up to $1 million and/or 18 months in jail.
The tie-ups, inspections, and possible further modifications could also cost fishermen untold tens/hundreds of thousands of dollars.
However, inshore harvesters in this province say it was never their understanding that their plans needed pre-approval. In recent years, dozens of them have purchased over 40-foot fishing vessels from the Maritimes, and had them modified (cut down) to be used in this province's under 40’ inshore fleet.
The move by Transport Canada Marine Safety and Security underscores the unfairness and chaos that comes from having two maximum base lengths for inshore fishing vessels in Eastern Canada — 39'll in Newfoundland and Labrador, and 49'11 in the Maritimes.
“DFO’s different policies amount to discrimination,” says Merv Wiseman, a long-time advocate for fishing vessel safety, and an organizer behind SEA-NL. “Why should Maritime fishermen be allowed bigger boats than ours. Is the safety of our fishermen worth any less?”
SEA-NL takes the stand that DFO should set a standard base length for all inshore fishing vessels in Atlantic Canada. Naval architects have said vessel-size restrictions are creating stability concerns in fishing vessels, and potential unsafe conditions at sea.
In June 2018 the House of Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans carried out a study of fishing vessel length in Atlantic Canada — recommending a full review of DFO's NL policy, and consultation with enterprise owners. The review was never carried out.
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SEA-NL calls on new federal Fisheries and Oceans minister to investigate allegations ‘pirate’ draggers destroying Grand Banks
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, Nov. 1st, 2021
SEA-NL is calling on the new federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans to launch an immediate investigation of foreign fishing outside Canada’s 200-mile limit in light of allegations that ‘pirate’ factory-freezer trawlers are destroying the Grand Banks under the department’s nose.
“Canada may have the toughest fishery enforcement within its own waters, but as long as it's a free-for-all once migratory stocks swim over the imaginary line that is the 200-mile limit those efforts are in vain,” says Ryan Cleary, Interim Executive Director of Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador.
“Fisheries and Oceans Minister Joyce Murray must investigate the magnitude of the overfishing, and take immediate actions to stop it,” said Cleary. “This is not just about Newfoundland and Labrador, but a national food-security issue, as well as propelling a blue economy?”
Captain Christian Mathisen of the Faroese longliner Bordoyarnes alleged last week that “pirate” factory-freezer trawlers are destroying the Grand Banks by directing for moratorium species such as cod, along with other illegal fishing actives.
While Fisheries and Oceans is said to be aware of the illegal activity, Mathisen said enforcement officials have told him directly their hands are tied because Covid-19 protocols prevent boardings and inspections.
Mathisen said he tracked trawlers this past summer, and has “no doubt” they were illegally targeting various species such as cod, halibut and redfish ("everything they can get").
He warned “there will be nothing left to fish” if action isn’t taken. DFO was asked to respond to the allegations this week, but failed to respond.
In September, Mathisen himself was issued two separate “notices of infringement” for failing to report discards in his daily catch reports, although he said the infractions were the result a “misunderstanding.”
Mathisen said Faroe Islands fishermen don’t have to report discards, whereas discards must be reported when fishing in waters outside Canada’s 200-mile limit governed by the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO).
Mathisen said the actions of the factory-freezer trawlers — whose massive nets drag over the ocean floor — “are taking food from other fish and leaving nothing behind.”
While Canada lowers the hammer on its own fishermen for illegal fishing, NAFO rules dictate it's up to a vessel's home country to follow though with an investigation of a “notice of infraction," and any possible follow up. Fines that are imposed by a home country usually amount to a slap on the wrist.
Despite adjacent fishing fleets from Newfoundland and Labrador suffering through decades of commercial fishery shutdowns, foreign fleets have continued to pound migrating stocks once they cross over the 200-mile limit.
Next year is the 30th anniversary of the northern cod moratorium, and the loss of more than 30,000 direct jobs — which remains the biggest layoff in Canadian history.
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SEA-NL calls on province to investigate foreign control/corporate concentration in fish processing sector
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Tuesday, Aug. 23rd, 2021
SEA-NL is calling on Premier Andrew Furey to launch an investigation into foreign control/corporate concentration in the province’s fish processing sector to coincide with a similar ongoing federal review of offshore fishing licences.
The federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) is currently reviewing foreign ownership/corporate-concentration of offshore licences to prevent foreign interests from establishing effective control over licence-holders.
“Ottawa’s review of offshore licences is only half the story, and only half the issues that must be addressed in the province’s fishery,” says Ryan Cleary, interim Executive Director of Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador.
“The whole story about potential illegal control of offshore and inshore fish quotas won’t be told until the Premier launches a parallel investigation.”
Federal jurisdiction over the commercial fisheries ends when the fish reaches the wharf, at which point the buying and processing of fish falls under provincial jurisdiction.
In a letter Monday to Premier Furey (copy attached) SEA-NL formally requested the province investigate the processing sector; and, ideally, team-up with the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) in a sweeping probe to cover the province’s entire fishing industry (offshore and inshore fishing licences) from stem to stern.
In its review, Ottawa is reportedly preparing a mandatory ownership survey to be distributed to offshore licence holders. There are 97 offshore licences in Eastern Canada and the Arctic that are fished by the factory-freezer trawler fleet — accounting for 37% of total landings in Eastern Canada.
Further, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans has held two hearings since May to investigate corporate offshore licences.
During those hearings, concerns were expressed about foreign control/corporate concentration in the processing sector in the Atlantic provinces by companies like Royal Greenland (wholly owned by the government of Greenland). Royal Greenland is the largest processing company in Newfoundland and Labrador today, and, combined with Ocean Choice International and the Barry Group, control most fish (and shellfish) processing in the province.
Cleary points out that other concerns have been raised by the FFAW-Unifor; as well as the province’s fish processing licensing board, which has described the level of foreign investment as “significant” by companies such as Royal Greenland that are normally “our competitors in world markets.”
Controlling agreements — which allow foreign and local processing companies operating in the province today to have power over inshore quotas of all species — are another source of concern.
"Such agreements allow third parties to control, influence or benefit from a fishing licence, and raise alarm bells regarding food security, and sovereignty,” Cleary said.
Cleary pointed out that 20 years ago this year, in September 2001, the province appointed a special panel on foreign control/corporate concentration .
“The panel found that foreign investment wasn’t a huge factor in the fishery at the time, and recommended the creation of today’s fish processing licence board, which, ironically, said last year that the question of foreign ownership was outside its mandate when it approved Royal Greenland’s takeover of Quinlan Brothers.”
SEA-NL also called on the federal and provincial governments to investigate the amount of frozen, unprocessed fish that’s leaving Newfoundland and Labrador for processing in other countries such as China, and to make the information public.
“The Newfoundland and Labrador fishery belongs to the people and communities of this province, and it’s up to the Premier to ensure our best interests are protected.”
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••••••••••
Aug. 23rd, 2021
Premier Andrew Furey
The Office of the Premier
Confederation Building, East Block
P.O. Box 8700
St. John’s, NL
A1B4J6
E-mail: premier@gov.nl.ca
Dear Premier,
As Interim Executive Director of Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL), a non-profit group representing independent, licensed owner-operator inshore fish harvesters, I write to you regarding issues of extreme importance to the future of the province’s fishery.
First, as you may be aware, the Government of Canada is currently reviewing foreign ownership/corporate-concentration of offshore fishing licences to prevent foreign interests from establishing effective control over licence-holders.
There are 97 offshore licences in Eastern Canada and the Arctic that are fished by the factory-freezer trawler fleet — accounting for 37% of total landings in Eastern Canada.
Ottawa is said to be preparing a mandatory ownership survey to be distributed to offshore licence holders this fall. As well, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans has held two meetings since May investigating corporate offshore licences.
SEA-NL’s primary concern is that the federal government’s ongoing review of the ownership of offshore quotas doesn’t go far enough.
DFO’s jurisdiction over the commercial fisheries ends when the fish reaches the wharf, at which point the buying and processing of fish falls under provincial jurisdiction.
But foreign control/corporate concentration is also a huge concern in the processing sector — which is where the Newfoundland and Labrador government must step up.
From SEA-NL's perspective, the Furey administration must investigate foreign ownership/corporate concentration in the processing sector, and, ideally, team-up with the feds in a sweeping probe so the entire fishing industry (offshore and inshore fishing licences) is covered from stem to stern.
As you’re aware, Royal Greenland, a Crown corporation owned by the Greenland government, became the largest fish processor in Newfoundland and Labrador in the fall of 2020 with a deal that included the purchase of Quinlan Brothers.
Indeed, three companies — Royal Greenland, Ocean Choice International, and the Barry Group — now control most of all fish (and shellfish) processing in the province.
The companies are also widely believed to control an unknown number of inshore fishing licences through so-called controlling agreements “whereby a person or corporation other than the named license-holder controls, influences and benefits from the license.”
Those controlling agreements are said to be rampant in Newfoundland and Labrador’s inshore fishery, which should set off alarm bells regarding food security, and the province's ability to economically capitalize on the inshore fishery.
Questions for the provincial government include how extensive is foreign control/corporate concentration in the province’s processing sector, and how much inshore quota is controlled by entities other than inshore licence-holders?
Ottawa cannot answer these critical questions since it is not within its jurisdiction.
When Quinlan Brothers was purchased by Royal Greenland last year it was widely believed (and publicly speculated) that both companies were involved in illegal controlling agreements.
In September, 2020, the province's fish processing licence board recommended approving the Royal Greenland deal — even as it raised a red flag over foreign investment in the fishery by companies "who are normally our competitors in the world markets."
“It raises the possibilities of key decisions affecting our industry and fishing communities here in Newfoundland and Labrador being made in another country,” the board said in a statement. “The level of investment is getting to be significant.”
How significant remains the outstanding question?
This past May, Keith Sullivan, President of the FFAW-Unifor, told the House of Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans that the majority of some fishing fleets in the province are illegally owned by fish processing companies.
“It’s obvious in every community. We can go around communities in Newfoundland and Labrador and say, ‘That’s a company boat and that’s a company boat.’ There seems to be a real hesitation on the part of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to do anything about it.”
Mr. Premier, a review of foreign control/corporate concentration in the province’s fishery isn’t without precedent. In September 2001, the province appointed a special panel on corporate concentration.
The panel found that foreign investment wasn’t a huge factor in the fishery at the time, and recommended the creation of today’s fish processing licence board, which, ironically, said last year that the question of foreign ownership was outside its mandate.
The allegations of foreign control must not go unchallenged.
Another issue of critical importance to the future of the province’s commercial fisheries is the amount of unprocessed fish that’s leaving Newfoundland and Labrador for processing in other countries such as China.
In the past, efforts to obtain such information from the federal and provincial government have not been successful.
SEA-NL is calling on the federal and provincial governments to investigate the amount of frozen, unprocessed fish that’s leaving Newfoundland and Labrador for processing in other countries such as China, and to make the information public.
In Canada, fish is a common property resource, meaning owned by the people. How would Canadians feel if they knew untold millions of pounds of their fish are being shipped to foreign destinations for processing?
The time has come for both levels of government to dig into foreign ownership/corporate concentration in all sectors of the Newfoundland and Labrador fishery — harvesting and processing — which can be equally damaging to the fishery of the future.
Ryan Cleary,
Interim Executive Director, SEA-NL
New voice for fish harvesters; SEA-NL to represent independent owner operators
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Thursday, April 15th, 2021
A new group — the Seafood Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) — is being formed to serve as the independent voice of the province’s more than 3,000 licensed commercial inshore fish harvesters.
“Owner-operators are a distinct group within the province’s fishing industry, and it’s high time they were recognized as such,” says Ryan Cleary, an inshore fisheries advocate, and one of the organizers.
“The fish harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador must realize how much power they would have if they came together,” said Cleary. “No government, no union, no companies could stop them. Owner-operators should be leading their own industry, and a strong organization with a collective voice like SEA-NL could achieve that goal.”
Cleary, a former federal Member of Parliament, led the FISH-NL union (2016-2019) in an attempt to break all inshore harvesters away from the FFAW-Unifor, which represents competing sectors within the province’s fishery. The experience and insights gained from that battle — as well as the time spent since working as an inshore fishery consultant — highlight the critical need to establish an independent voice for licensed harvesters.
SEA-NL will represent the interests of licensed owner-operators only, and as an association won’t need permission from the province’s Labour Relations Board to organize and incorporate. SEA-NL will not be in a position to negotiate fish prices, although that would be an eventual goal.
“SEA-NL’s primary mission will be to support fish harvesters, advocate for healthy fisheries, and strengthen fishing communities,” said Merv Wiseman, another organizer.
A one-time inshore fisherman himself, Wiseman has been an outspoken advocate for search and rescue and fishing vessel safety in the province, with extensive leadership/organizing experience in the province’s agriculture and fur-breeding industries.
Benefits of SEA-NL would include: a distinct voice for owner-operators; membership votes on policy; breaks on insurance, fuel, fishing gear, etc. that would come with bulk purchases; freedom from conflicts of interest with other industry sectors, governments, and members; and a transparent and accountable organization.
SEA-NL would also gather information from DFO/government departments and then communicate regulations, industry news, and other important information to the membership. The association would represent the interests of owner-operators in terms of public policy, and industry, government and media relations.
“Owner-operators owe it to themselves to join the new association,” said Wiseman. “The leadership structure in the fishery today clearly isn’t working — not for fish harvesters, not for fish stocks, and certainly not for our province’s fishing communities.”
Over the coming days SEA-NL plans to incorporate as a not-for-profit corporation, and undertake consultations/sign-ups with owner-operators around the province. From there, SEA-NL will set up a volunteer board of directors representing over/under 40’ fleets in fishing zones around the province, set membership fees, and establish an office with enabling staff.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Friday, June 11th, 2021
The Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador Inc. (SEA-NL) has been formed to serve as the distinct voice of the province’s more than 3,000 licensed, commercial inshore fish harvesters — with membership signup officially starting today.
“It’s high time independent owner-operators were recognized as a distinct group within the Newfoundland and Labrador fishery, with a say on all decisions that impact their enterprises,” says Ryan Cleary, organizer and interim Executive Director.
Since the plan to create SEA-NL was announced in mid-April, organizers Cleary and Merv Wiseman, well-known around the province as a search-and-rescue advocate, have created a non-profit company, and built a website (sea-nl.ca) containing membership and registration information.
The plan is for SEA-NL to hold a convention in the fall to formally adopt bylaws, an organizational structure, and to elect a board of directors made up solely of independent, inshore owner-operators from all fishing zones around the province.
An office will be opened and temporary staff hired as soon as membership/funding allows. Owner-operators who join SEA-NL will eventually be offered breaks on benefits including fuel, fishing gear, etc. that would come with negotiated group purchases.
In turn, SEA-NL will represent the interests of owner-operators in terms of fishery policy, and industry, government, and media relations, as well as overall communications.
“Owner-operators run the enterprises upon which the inshore fishery is built, and should see SEA-NL as an opportunity to take a direct lead in the industry moving forward,” says Wiseman, who has extensive leadership/organizing experience.
Cleary, a former federal Member of Parliament, led the FISH-NL union (2016-2019) in an unsuccessful attempt to break inshore harvesters away from the FFAW-Unifor, which represents all sectors within the province’s fishery.
Unlike FISH-NL, SEA-NL will represent the interests of licensed owner-operators only (not crew), and as an association won’t need permission from the province’s Labour Relations Board to organize. SEA-NL will not be in a position to negotiate fish prices, although it will be well-positioned to influence their outcome, and other industry/government policy and fish management practices.
SEA-NL’s primary mission will be to support fish harvesters, advocate for healthy fisheries, and strengthen fishing communities.
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Contact Ryan Cleary: 682-4862
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—Wednesday, May 26th, 2021
The Seaward Enterprises Association, Newfoundland Labrador (SEA-NL) calls on the federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans to reverse her decision to limit the increase to the 2021 northern shrimp quota off southern Labrador and northeastern Newfoundland.
“DFO went outside its own rule book to limit the increase to this year’s quota, which will translate into the loss of more than 2,000 tonnes of shrimp to the province’s inshore fleet,” says Ryan Cleary, interim Executive Director of SEA-NL, a new association to represent the province’s more than 3,000 independent owner-operators.
“Enterprise owners are being punished for their sacrifices and Mother Nature’s turnaround. SEA-NL calls on the minster to revisit her decision.”
Cleary wrote federal Fisheries and Oceans Minister Bernadette Jordan Tuesday regarding her recent decision to institute a year-over-year limit of 15% to this year’s northern shrimp quota off southern Labrador and northeastern Newfoundland. (A copy of the letter is attached.)
The area, known as shrimp fishing area (SFA) 6, is fished mostly by the province’s inshore fleet, and is deemed to be in the “critical zone” under DFO’s precautionary approach management system.
DFO science recorded an increase in the Area 6 spawning stock of 42% between 2020 and 2021, and harvesters expected a corresponding increase in quota.
Instead, DFO set the 2021 quota for Area 6 shrimp at 9,534 tonnes, limiting the year-over-year quota increase to 15% — even though such limits to quota increases in critical zones aren’t mentioned in DFO’s Integrated Fisheries Management plan, which outlines the department’s “rules” for managing the shrimp stock.
“When those rules aren’t followed it leads to uncertainty, instability, and frustration in the fishing industry, particularly, in this case, amongst the province’s inshore shrimp fleet,” Cleary said.
“A 40 per increase in the Area 6 shrimp quota would still only result in a 10% exploitation rate, which is what DFO’s own management plan allows for when a stock is in the critical zone.”
The difference in shrimp quota between a 15%-40% increase in quota for Area 6 amounts to a 2,072 tonne (4.6 million/lb loss) to Newfoundland and Labrador’s inshore fleet, which has struggled in recent years as the result of severe quota cuts.
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Tuesday, May 25th, 2021
Bernadette Jordan
Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, Canada
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ont.,
Canada
K1A 0A6
Ms. Jordan,
I write regarding the recent decision by Fisheries and Oceans Canada to institute a year-over-year limit of 15% on increases to the total allowable catch (TAC) in Shrimp Fishing Area (SFA) 6 off southern Labrador and northeastern Newfoundland.
There is no mention in DFO’s Integrated Fisheries Management Plan (IFMP) for northern shrimp of such a year-over-year limit on quota increases when an SFA — such as Area 6 — is in the critical zone of DFO’s precautionary approach management framework.
Inshore harvesters — who fish almost exclusively in SFA 6 — request that the 2021 quota be revisited to fall in line with the more than 40% increase in the stock recorded between 2020/2021.
While the IFMP highlights that it is not a legally binding instrument that can form the basis of a legal challenge, the document does outline an understanding of the basic “rules” for the management of the shrimp stock.
When those “rules” aren’t followed it leads to uncertainty, instability, and frustration in the fishing industry, particularly, in this case, amongst the province’s inshore shrimp fleet.
The harvest decision rules (HDRs) in the IFMP clearly outline what happens when the spawning stock biomass (SSB) is in the healthy zone or above the upper stock reference (USR): “Changes in the TAC should generally not exceed 15% of the previous TAC, unless the stock is declining precipitously.”
Likewise, the HDRs also outline that when the SSB is between the limit reference point (LRP) and the USR (the so-called cautious zone): “Changes in the TAC should generally not exceed 15% of the previous TAC, unless the stock is declining precipitously.”
However, when the SSB is below the LRP (a.k.a. the critical zone) — which has been the case for a number of years in SFA 6 — the HDRs make no mention of changes in the TAC not exceeding 15% of the previous TAC.
But that’s exactly what happened with the 2021 quota in SFA 6, which has been set at 9,534 tonnes (a 15% increase from 2020) instead of a 42% increase that would have reflected the year-over-year growth in that shrimp stock.
The difference in shrimp quota between a 15%-40% increase in TAC for Area 6 amounts to 2,072 tonnes or 4.6 million/lbs to Newfoundland and Labrador’s inshore fleet, which has struggled in recent years as the result of severe quota cuts.
DFO clearly went outside its rule book in reducing the expected shrimp quota increase in SFA 6 to 15% from 40%, and inshore harvesters feel they’re being punished for their sacrifices and Mother Nature’s turnaround.
On behalf of inshore harvesters who fish in SFA 6, I respectfully request that you immediately revisit the decision to limit the quota increase to 15%.
Sincerely,
Ryan Cleary,
Executive Director (Interim)
SEA-NL
Seaward Enterprises Association, Newfoundland Labrador