‘The tie-up may be over but fishermen are still tied on’

The tie-up may have ended — with one of the world’s largest snow crab fisheries finally underway — but potentially hundreds of boats in the under-40 fleet have yet to leave the wharf because Quin-Sea/Royal Greenland isn’t buying from them.

Inshore boats tied up in Ferryland on the Southern Shore.

The reason isn’t clear, and some fishermen say the company doesn’t plan to start buying from the Under 40 until early June.

Where is the provincial government? Where is the union?

Was this part of the deal signed off by the FFAW in terms of trip limits/fishing schedules to get the 2023 snow crab season underway?

The tie-up was a complete failure/joke/circus for the inshore fleet in terms of improved price/market share/representation.

But if the tie-up doesn’t result in long-term change to the pricing system — and the legislative chains are not removed from the inshore fleet, and better representation insisted on — then the tie-up would have been a monumental disaster.

The tie-up may be over, but if you're still tied on what's the good of it?

Ryan Cleary,

SEA-NL

SEA-NL Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) is a professional, non-profit organization that serves as the distinct voice for licensed, independent owner-operator inshore fish harvesters. Visit sea-nl.ca to join.