Despite a rocky start to the season, reports of Newfoundland and Labrador’s 2024 crab season have been overwhelmingly positive.
Before the start of the season, pricing negotiations between the Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union (FFAW) and the Association of Seafood Producers (ASP) broke down, leading to a week-long holdout while harvesters fought for a higher price for their catch. Initially, the Standing Fish Price Setting Panel set a floor price of $2.60 per pound for snow crab before the two parties came to a new deal, setting a minimum price of $3.00.
According to Abe Solberg, who served as the lead negotiator for the 2024 season, harvesters are now seeing a minimum of $3.45 per pound on most wharves.
“As far as harvester’s price goes, folks are getting a minimum of $3.45 here. There are reports from some folks that Royal Greenland is paying $3.75 now,” said Solberg. “Not to say $2.60 was a reasonable floor. It wasn’t. But $3.45 sets us up in a good position for the years going forward.”
According to Solberg, around 50 per cent of the total allowable catch (TAC) for crab has been caught in the province so far. Harvesters are also reporting good size, quality crab.
“I have heard from a number of our harvesters that the quality of the crab they’re catching is really high,” said Solberg. “They’re getting really nice sized crab; they seem really healthy. Folks are saying it’s one of the best years for crab as far as quality goes.”
In March 2024, the provincial government officially allowed processors from outside the province to apply to operate within Newfoundland and Labrador after yielding to the demands of harvesters who found the select group of processors within the province was breeding an uncompetitive environment, in turn driving down the price of fish. While Solberg said there are no outside buyers currently operating in the province, there have been multiple applications.
“I don’t believe any are currently purchasing on the island, but I do know a fair bit of product has been shipped off to buyers,” said Solberg. “I also know there have been four applications from plants to lift their caps, and all four have been approved. That’s been extremely significant for our harvesters. The reason we’re getting $3.45 now, in large part, is because several boats left the plant and the plant tried to get them back by raising the price and basically set up a bidding war for products that stabilized at $3.45. Just that increase in competition from buyers that are already here really raised the prices.”
As part of crab negotiations, Solberg noted that the union will be receiving receipts of sale from processors within the province. He said having the information on the money processors earned through the sale of Newfoundland and Labrador crab will be an asset to price negotiations in the future.
“It will be the first time that we’ll really know what the value of the product is that was landed,” said Solberg. “Going forward off that, we’re going to have to build from it. Right now, the rebate [for crab] is really based on sections five through eights, and it really needs to be based on everything that’s landed. We need to get paid for the value of the product on the island… The fundamental fight here is how much of the value should stay with harvesters in these communities and that’s what we’re going to be fighting going forward.”
