The Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) has elected to switch roles from a non-profit organization, meant to represent the interests of inshore owner-operators, to a for-profit fisheries co-operative (co-op).
According to SEA-NL’s Executive Director, Ryan Cleary, the organization’s board of directors voted to transition to a fisheries co-operative to “better represent licensed enterprise owners and strengthen the inshore fishery.”
Cleary said that with the prospect of the province announcing new crab processing licenses, these new processors are going to be looking for product.
“The more we looked into that, the best way to approach these companies is in the form of a co-op,” said Cleary.
Cleary pointed to the success of the Labrador Fishermen’s Union Shrimp Company (LFUSCL) as a model for fisheries co-ops in the province. Starting in 1978, LFUSCL has gone from representing 130 small enterprises from across Labrador to owning five processing plants, two middle-distance banker boats and a 50 per cent ownership of an offshore factory freezer trawler.
“Labrador has its fishery act in gear, and they have for years. They came together as a co-op and it’s working for the enterprise owners and it’s working for Labrador rural communities,” said Cleary. “A co-op in Newfoundland; you’re not going to start out immediately with the kind of company that Labrador has, but it’s certainly something to shoot for.”
Cleary said that N.L.’s 2023 snow crab fishery served as a catalyst for inshore fish harvesters to desire a change like the one he and SEA-NL’s board are putting forward. Prior to the 2023 season, price negotiations between the Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union (FFAW) and the Association of Seafood Producers (ASP) saw the N.L. snow crab fishery grind to a halt as harvesters engaged in a tie-up and corresponding protests that lasted nearly eight weeks. While the season resumed, albeit for a shortened duration, prices at the wharf still stood in stark contrast from the over $7 per pound seen during the 2022 season.
Cleary claimed that the 2023 season proved that the province’s inshore fleet is “totally under the thumb” of processing companies.
“They’re told when to fish, how much to fish and you can’t change buyers. You’re trapped. That’s not the way it works in Labrador,” said Cleary. “It’s been made clear there needs to be change. The initial plan all along wasn’t to become a co-op, we just ended up where we are. We need relationships with companies; the best to do it is with a co-op.”
Cleary said that SEA-NL’s transformation from an advocacy group to a co-op may be met with resistance from certain parties. Any resistance met, he said, will not deter him and the rest of SEA-NL from their newest goal.
“Change has to come. Things have to change,” said Cleary. “There are just over 2,600 core small boat fishing enterprises left in this province today. 32 years ago, there were over 20,000 and it’s still in freefall. The offshore companies have their act in gear. They know what they want, and they usually get it. The inshore fleet also has to get its act in gear, and again I think that’s what was awakened this past season.”
SEA-NL hasn’t officially become a co-op, yet. The group will be meeting on December 5, 2023, in central Newfoundland, where it will bring together enterprise owners from around the province to lay the groundwork for its transition.
“Nothing is decided. We’ll bring together this steering committee with some other experts, put them in the same room and we’ll take a good look at a model that could potentially work for the inshore fleet,” said Cleary.
“I feel that the timing is right. I feel that the 2023 season was an eye-opener for the inshore fleet that there needs to be change, because they have no control and no say over the industry. This would be a way for the inshore fleet to take control of its own destiny and put any profits back into the member’s pockets and into the pockets of communities around them.”
