Amid protests, quota cuts, and tariff threats, panel set to rule on snow crab prices
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Amid quota cuts, protests, a court challenge and the constant uncertainty of a mercurial U.S. president, parties for both sides of the lucrative Newfoundland and Labrador snow crab fishery have submitted their price recommendations.
Now, they wait.
In a social media post on Sunday, the Fish Food and Allied Workers union said the price setting panel hearing on snow crab began that morning.
The union is asking the panel for a starting price of $4.97 per pound this season.
In the same post, the union said the Association of Seafood Producers is asking the panel for a starting price of $4.50 per pound.
"Everyone hears about $5, $6, even $7 crab, so nobody is terribly thrilled at the idea of $4.97, and even less thrilled at the idea of $4.50," said Ray Critch, a negotiator and policy manager for the FFAW.
"But just to make sure that floor is there should there be a bit of softness in the market, we wanted to make sure it was a reasonable floor that the panel would be more likely to accept rather than what we think are the deflated — artificially deflated — prices from the ASP."
No one from the ASP was available for an interview.
The snow crab fishery is the province's most lucrative fishery — worth about $476 million in 2024 — and also one of its most fraught.
Last year, a price dispute led to violent protests outside of Confederation Building in St. John's, and forced the province to delay the annual budget.
Last month, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans increased the total allowable catch by nine per cent, but cut the quota in division 3K — down almost 25 per cent to 7,643 tonnes — and in subdivision 3Ps by about 16 per cent.
In response, harvesters protested at the office of federal Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson, and the St. John's Convention Centre, where Liberal Leader Mark Carney was campaigning.
The DFO ultimately did not back away from the quota cuts.
Meanwhile, the price setting panel is considering both offers against the backdrop of an ongoing Canada-U.S. trade war.
Jeff Loder, the executive director of the ASP, has said they're proposing two prices, depending on whether or not the U.S. enacts tariffs.
WATCH | FFAW negotiator talks about the unions tariff planning:
FFAW snow crab submission includes tariff contingency plans
5 hours ago
Duration 0:46
Panel hearings on snow crab prices are happening now. But this year, they're happening in the shadow of a trade war. Both the Fish, Food and Allied Workers union and the Association of Seafood Producers are taking tariff threats into account.
Critch says the FFAW has "built in a direct tariff proposal" and that if there are tariffs then harvesters would agree to accept 30 per cent of any tariff that's out there.
"The distributors, and more importantly the consumers, will likely also have to bear some of the burden of tariffs," he said. "Perhaps more importantly, we also included a clause that says if the bottom really does drop out of the economy and the season … that would automatically bring everybody back to the table to renegotiate."
The panel should make a decision on price on Wednesday — the same day the ASP, the FFAW and the Newfoundland and Labrador government will be in court to hear a decision on whether the province's fisheries minister had the authority to change a key date for this year's fishery without consulting both the union and processors.
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