Best-selling author Cinda Williams Chima once wrote “I’ve found it wise to enjoy any time of truce, while recognizing it for what it is. A truce.”
In late May, an unprecedented six-week snow crab fishing dispute finally came to an end and Newfoundland and Labrador fishermen are once again on the water, doing what they do best.
For the majority of the spring, the FFAW-Unifor and Association of Seafood Producers (ASP) were locked in a battle of wills and attrition over the price of snow crab.
In early April, the province’s Standing Fish Price-Setting Panel accepted the final offer put forward by ASP of $2.20/pound. However, the FFAW insisted that harvesters could not fish at that price without going bankrupt. The union had put forward a price of $3.10 per pound.
After much back and forth, as well as the intervention of the Premier and provincial government, an agreement was finally hammered out between the FFAW and processors to the get the multi-million-dollar fishery going — even though harvesters did not get the price increase they were seeking — at least not yet.
While some fishermen were not happy with the outcome, the FFAW put its best foot forward regarding the agreement that got fishermen back on the water. The union stated that the secured agreement is a formula structure that guarantees a lowest minimum price of $2.20 per pound with incremental increases as the Urner Barry market price increases.
“To say we are no better off than when the Panel price came out is incorrect. The final offer selection process didn’t give harvesters a formula. But the Union did. Our members’ solidarity did. The value we’ve protected here is extremely important and cannot be overstated,” explained FFAW-Unifor President Greg Pretty.
Despite harvesters starting to fish snow crab for the same price offered two months ago, at least Newfoundland and Labrador’s most important fishery has commenced and product is coming ashore for processing. As long as this fragile truce between the FFAW and ASP holds, the fishery will continue to be prosecuted and product processed.
The processors must also be relieved to finally get the season started.
“We’re pleased and relieved that we have reached an agreement with the FFAW for the 2023 crab season. It’s been a troubling few weeks faced with much uncertainty, but we are confident that we can still have a successful fishery, with public safety top of mind. We are eager to start processing crab and to provide meaningful employment to the thousands of plant workers that rely on the industry and we are looking forward to exporting premium quality snow crab that will be enjoyed worldwide,” said ASP executive director Jeff Loder.
In fact, not only is the truce holding, but the secured agreement formula that was hammered out is actually working. The FFAW reported on June 2, 13 days after the Newfoundland and Labrador snow crab fishery opened, the minimum price increased by an additional five cents per pound, for a minimum price of 2.25 per pound, as a result of Urner Barry market increases that automatically trigger an increase paid to harvesters.
“The formula-like increase is per the agreement negotiated following the seven-week tie-up last month, and proof that standing strong and fighting back makes a difference,” the union reiterated.
As of the first week of June, about 10 per cent of the N.L. 54,279-MT quota had been caught.
Meanwhile, the snow crab season is progressing nicely elsewhere. In the Gulf of St. Lawrence, more than 90 per cent of the quota had been landed in Area 12. That area has a revised quota of 31,352.521 MT. Area 12F in the Gulf of St. Lawrence has a revised quota of 1,315.212 MT. Harvesters there have caught 1,166.143 MT, which represents 88.67 per cent of the quota. Only 149.069 MT remain for Area 12F.
As for the Maritimes Region (CFA 23–24E), which has a combined quota of 7,345.080 MT, only 36 per cent has been caught. That area has 4,706.049 MT remaining. CFA 20–22, which has a quota limit of 978.750 MT, has 90 per cent of the quota caught.
So, how critical is the snow crab fishery to the four Atlantic provinces?
In fact, the Canadian snow crab fishery is the most important and largest crab fishery in North America. Analysts predict that this fishery will provide the majority of in-shell crab for the U.S. market in the future, adding that the opportunity and challenge for producers and marketers is to take advantage of the current lower prices and expand the market.
Canada is the dominant producer and exporter of snow crab, with a 61 per cent share of the global resource in 2023.
Next is Russia.
That controversial and boycotted country currently has the potential to provide 30 per cent of the world’s snow crab. It also now has closed markets in the U.S. and E.U. and is dependent on Asia. As of early May, there were 28 Russian vessels fishing snow crab with 14 delivering live, nine raw frozen and five cooking crab.
So, to say the Canadian snow crab is important right now would be an understatement.
So, what’s next?
Now that the all-important N.L. crab is being landed, processed and shipped to buyers, how will the markets react? Has this critically important fishery experienced the bottom of the trough and is now on the upswing? Will prices adjust enough for enterprise owners to salvage the season?
As everyone has witnessed over the last 18 months, the global snow crab business is about as volatile and unpredictable as you can get. But if this FFAW/ASP truce can hold, and there is every reason to believe it will, Atlantic Canadian snow crab will once again gain its dominant position in the global seafood web and this season could be considered just a blip on the industry’s radar.
