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CBC
17-04-2025
- Politics
- CBC
MHAs push federal government to clean up grounded cargo vessel, as pollution concern grows
Two months after a cargo shop ran aground on Newfoundland's west coast, politicians are voicing fears of environmental damage and a lack of action, as tar balls are washing up on nearby beaches. On Wednesday in the House of Assembly, Independent MHA for Humber-Bay of Islands Eddie Joyce pressed outgoing Premier Andrew Furey on what is being done to avoid environmental disaster over of the grounded MSC Baltic III, located near Lark Harbour. Joyce says the community and fish harvesters are concerned about a potential oil spill. "The process is very slow and depending on weather conditions," said Joyce. "I understand that this is a federal coast guard issue, but delay would potentially cause a major oil spill and a catastrophe." Furey acknowledged search and rescue efforts, the Fish, Food and Allied Workers union and the community for navigating the crisis and ensuring no loss of life. "There does represent a continued environmental threat," said Furey. He says he's written to the Canadian Coast Guard and the federal government to "ensure that they are taking this with this level of urgency and acuity that is required to protect that crucial fishing ground for people in that district." Tar balls rolling in On April 14, the coast guard announced tar balls the size of tennis balls have been appearing on the shoreline near the grounded vessel, creating a greater sense of urgency to remove fuel from the MSC Baltic III. Tar balls are globs of oil that form on the ocean surface and float to shore. Labrador Affairs Minister Lisa Dempster wrote a letter to federal Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson about the ongoing threat the vessel posed to the region. "I share the concerns of local residents about the impacts these pollutants can have on marine life and fishing grounds," Dempster wrote, urging Thompson to ensure all possible measures are being taken to speed up cleaning efforts to prevent damage to the environment. However, accessing the area around the ship is difficult, and Lark Harbour Mayor Wade Park has requested a nearby ATV road be fixed up to allow easier access. Lark Harbour town clerk Nicola Parker wrote in a letter that the ship's owner, Mediterranean Shipping Company, won't commit to helping build the road. Joyce believes the decision was made due to high costs. "The company is looking at their bottom line, their cheapest option, not the environmental concerns and the possible disaster," said Joyce in the House of Assembly. CBC News has asked Mediterranean Shipping Company for an interview. Headquartered in Switzerland, the company is the largest shipping line in the world and has approximately 900 vessels. Forbes ranks the company's owner, Italian billionaire Gianluigi Aponte, as the 42nd-richest person in the world. Growing concern Lark Harbour resident Melanie Joyce says the presence of tar balls in the area is alarming, and she has heard of signs of damage on the vessel. "It's only a matter of time before it starts leaking," she said, adding that residents and harvesters are getting frustrated about the lack of action to prevent the spread of pollution. She says a new road is essential, as it would allow them to offload fuel from land. "Government needs to step in and make this happen" she said, adding MSC should help, too. "They have to take responsibility of this ship before something major happens." On April 14, FFAW president Dwan Street told CBC Radio's The Broadcast how crab and lobster harvesters are worried about the area. "We've had some reports of seeing sheen on the water," she said. "[And] with the volume of fuel aboard the vessel, every day that vessel is still there, it's becoming more and more compromised." According to Street, harvesters have noticed problems with the vessel's structural stability. "We know the risk of environmental disaster there. It doesn't really take much for a significant fuel spill to occur, and then we have some really serious problems," she said. Harvesters are also dealing with some space issues with workers taking up space on the wharfs, she says. "Of course, we definitely understand and appreciate that the worst got to get done. But the timing is not ideal," said Street.
CBC
06-02-2025
- Business
- CBC
Fish harvester says possible tariffs leave N.L.'s fishery with a lot of uncertainty
A pause in the tariff dispute with the United States is not bringing any comfort to Lee Melindy. "We've got to have fishing, we've got to have processors, and we got a companies to send it into the States," he said. "Those are all a circle. And if one of those pieces of the circle falls apart, it is detrimental on the rest of it." Melindy is a fish harvester based in Lumsden, N.L. He's a full-time crew member, deck boss and helps his father — the enterprise owner — in the wheelhouse. It's been almost 30 years since he first entered the fishery, and he's seen a lot of changes. "Over the years, I mean, we've had uphill battles and we've been good and whatnot, but when you're looking at a possible four years, it could be very serious into the operating of an enterprise," he said. This week, U.S. president Donald Trump said he would put a hold on his proposed 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods for 30 days. With that, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau paused Canada's counter-tariffs. But the 25 per cent proposal could be a breaking point for local harvesters, says Melindy. He's hoping, if tariffs are enacted, something can be arranged so that harvesters are not shouldering the brunt of the cost. "A tariff [of] 25 per cent to harvesters is going to be detrimental," he said. "If we've got to absorb all the tariff, I mean, it's going to come down to a situation like if we're going to go fishing or if we're not going to go fishing type thing. There's only so long you can go borderline or break even on something and continue on." The snow crab season usually begins in April, but the Fish, Food and Allied Workers union and Association of Seafood Producers want to get a head start and begin the season in mid-March. This leaves little time to settle on a price, says Melindy. "We've got 95 per cent of our snow crab that's going into the U.S.," he said. "There's 195 countries in this world, so there's lots more countries that can absorb a bit of crab and get our markets back so that we don't just rely on one country. The province announced this week it was forming a roundtable and about $6 million in funding to work on diversifying the market. WATCH | The crab season kicks off in April and there's still plenty of unknowns: Threatened tariffs mean this N.L. crab harvester faces financial uncertainty 10 hours ago Duration 2:07 How do you fight for a fair price on snow crab when there's so much uncertainty between Canada and the United States? The CBC's Troy Turner headed to Lumsden to hear concerns from a local harvester. Melindy says it's not just about snow crab, but also lobster, ground fish and cod. "We start in April and fish to, hopefully, November or middle of October," he said. And it's not only the people employed in the fishery that will be affected by the proposed tariffs, Melindy said. He says communities, especially the smaller ones, will feel the brunt. "It's going to trickle down to not only the community, I guess, but all the surrounding shorelines, coasts, interiors of Newfoundland," he said. "If the harvesters [don't] got the money to put back into the communities, I mean, it's going to trickle down to the grocery stores, to the car dealerships."
CBC
05-02-2025
- Business
- CBC
Seafood sector is united in face of tariff threats, says N.L.'s fisheries minister
A unified effort to navigate the Newfoundland and Labrador seafood industry through the uncertainty of U.S. tariff threats began on Wednesday, with more than two dozen people joining by video conference in the first fishery roundtable meeting. The meeting was chaired by Fisheries Minister Gerry Byrne, who described the discussions as "one of the best meetings I've ever hosted." The meeting was spawned from a broader premier's roundtable that was assembled last month in response to a threat from U.S. President Donald Trump to place a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian goods entering the U.S. market, including seafood. Unity is often hard to find in the fishing industry, but competitors and rivals appear to have put aside their differences in the face of this threat. Joining the meeting were leaders in all sectors of the fishery, including union leaders, processors, harvesters, marketing specialists and the aquaculture industry. "The meeting went exceptionally well," said Byrne, who spoke with reporters at the conclusion of the 90-minute meeting on Wednesday. Among those taking part were Dwan Street, president of the Fish, Food and Allied Workers union, and Jeff Loder, executive director with the Association of Seafood Producers. The threat of big border taxes is causing widespread anxiety in this critical industry, despite Trump's decision on Monday to pause tariffs for 30 days. His chaotic approach to trade has kick started a movement to reduce the dependency on U.S. consumers, and search for new seafood markets, not only in Asia and Europe, but also at home in Canada. Such an effort will take time, and likely won't reduce the heavy dependence on the U.S. market this year, but could diversify the marketplace for future harvests, said Byrne. "We need to get involved and put our efforts toward the existing Canadian market," he said. The provincial government is kicking in nearly $6 million as seed money for the market diversification effort, to be spent over two years. How and when will this money flow? Who will be eligible? Those details will be worked out ahead of the next roundtable meeting, which could happen "as early as a week from now," said Byrne. But, he said, all sectors of the industry will be able to tap into the funding for things like trade missions and financing help for new domestic and foreign export ventures. Byrne is also calling on the federal government to help the diversification effort through financing and export insurance support by agencies such as Export Development Canada. And if the fishery is hammered by tariffs, discussions are underway for an Ottawa-funded income support program. But Byrne is not ruling out direct support from the province. "We will never abandon them on the economic side of this industry and we will not abandon our workers who may be impacted by this," he said. Meanwhile, the trade talk is coming at a delicate time. The fisheries union and processors are locked in negotiations for a wharf price. And with the threat of a 25 per cent tariff on the table, the climate for such talks have rarely been this complicated. But united scenes like the one on Monday, when leaders from the FFAW and ASP held a joint news conference, are a cause for hope, said Byrne. "I have never seen a more cooperative, collegial of effort and response," he said. And there's added pressure because all sides want to start the crab harvest two weeks earlier this year — on March 15. Before that can happen, however, the federal government will have to sign off on an earlier start to the harvest.
