Despite the challenges 2022 presented — from rising inflation to lower prices for shellfish and a drop in sales of Atlantic Canadian seafood — Newfoundland and Labrador’s Fisheries, Forest and Aquaculture Minister Derrick Bragg said there is still cause to celebrate the year.
The landed value for seafood is up from 2021, currently sitting at $1,237,194,816 as of December 13, marking a nearly 16 per cent increase from last year.
“The landings are up, especially in shellfish,” said Bragg. “Crab and lobster is up. We’re well over $1 billion, around $1.4 billion in landings. We have 17,000 workers in the province in over 400 communities, so that’s as big as any project you could ever imagine for our province. And I’ve got to say, it’s well-paying jobs. It’s not looked at like it used to be between 20 and 30 years ago. It’s a well-respected profession now, so the fisherie’s come a long way.”
Bragg says that while wharf prices for shellfish didn’t live up to expectations coming into the year, they still maintained a decent level. He says that processors, however, took a major hit when the market for seafood slowed down.
“I think the expectation may have been higher going in. It started off with $7.60, I believe, and it was somewhere in the mid $6/pound range at the end of the season,” said Bragg. “So, the price at the wharf was fairly high. The downside of it is that markets for it pretty well dried up halfway through the season, and we found a lot of our crab was being left in cold storage and a lot of our lobsters were being left in the tanks. I guess for the harvester, it was a very profitable season and for the plant owners it was probably a more different season than they’ve seen in the last four or five.”
The minister was also disappointed in the landings for the capelin, squid, mackerel and spring herring fisheries. Landings for capelin were down to just over 10,000 pounds from nearly 50,000 in 2021. The mackerel and herring fisheries also suffered from closures this season.
“Our capelin fishery, while I wouldn’t consider it a complete failure, was way down from past years,” said Bragg.
“In the spring herring, there was very minimal, if any, spring herring. It may have been only a bait fishery. There was no mackerel at all, and no squid this year. Last year, there was squid like you wouldn’t believe, and there were no squid at all this year. I know people who made four and five thousand dollars a week, and sometimes more than that, in squid last year. This year they didn’t catch a squid.”
Bragg said aquaculture had a good year in the province, highlighting the industry’s expansion in 2022 with new players like Grieg Seafood recently establishing facilities in N.L.
He brought attention to the employment opportunities presented by aquaculture companies, especially on the south coast.
“You need to go into the southern coastal communities and see what a difference the employment is making to the rural communities,” said Bragg. “These are good paying jobs in rural communities that elsewise would have nothing, and you’re seeing new subdivisions built in places like Harbour Breton. It’s amazing, the work that’s going on.”
2022 was also a time of upheaval for Newfound and Labrador in particular. Two big names in the industry, Derek Butler with the Association of Seafood Producers (ASP) and Keith Sullivan of the Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union (FFAW) have left their positions. While this changing of the guard has caused some uncertainty in the seafood sector, Bragg looks forward to meeting their replacements in the new year.
“We’re going to be looking at new leaders for these associations, and for me that means new people to deal with and to work with, so I’m looking forward to that. No doubt good people will come forward. I just can’t wait to learn who works for ASP and FFAW in that capacity,” said Bragg.
With 2023 around the corner, Bragg is worried about what high inflation could spell for the seafood sector. With lobster being left in the tank, crabs being left in cold storage and people steering away from higher-priced items, he’s concerned that harvesters and processors won’t see much in the way of returns on their recent investments.
“COVID-19 opened up new markets, opened up the grocery store markets in the United States and it drove the price of the crab really high in ’21,” said Bragg. “We may get back to a more realistic price this year, but I am worried. I wouldn’t want to see it go too low, because people have major investments. We’re talking millions and sometimes tens of millions that fishers have invested right now, so they need a good return to pay off on their investment.”
The stakes are high, according to Bragg. He would like to see the landings and sales seen in the last couple of years hold steady for the benefit of the vast amount of people employed in the industry.
“We’re employing, in this province, over 17,000 people. We need to have a good industry,” said Bragg. “The premier asked me where I’d like to see the fishery in 20 years, and in 20 years I’d like to see it as strong as it is today.”
