Combatting Seafood Processing Worker Shortages
The seafood industry in Atlantic Canada has an ongoing problem and it has nothing to do with quotas or fish prices.
The issue of course is lack of workers and unfortunately for processors around the region, this problem is showing no signs of getting better. And if you listen to some stakeholders, it is only going to continue to get worse before it gets better. So, how do you start to make it better?
A few years ago, The Navigator highlighted a 2019 study by Food Processing Skills Canada ...
IUU Fishing: Far From a Foreign Problem
With everything going in the fishery throughout Atlantic Canada, oftentimes, it is hard to take a step back and look at the global fishing picture — after all, don’t we have enough to worry about here?
However, once and while, it is a worthwhile practice to pause for a second and compare our various fisheries here with others being prosecuted around the world. While we always have our issues, for the most part, our commercial fisheries are well run, with conservation and the future top ...
From Rhetoric to Real Issues
A little over a year ago, The Navigator took a deep dive into the mandate letter of newly appointed Minister of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) and Canadian Coast Guard Joyce Murray.
A mandate letter sets the table for the work and legislation each federal minister is expected to prioritize by their boss, the Prime Minister.
After a quick peruse of Minister Murray’s mandate letter, three key points dominated the Prime Minster’s marching orders: climate, the environment and Indigenous ...
2022: A Year Not for the Record Books
As 2022 is fading out of sight in the rearview mirror, we are left shaking our collective heads thinking, what a difference a few months can make.
In March of this year, the world was emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic and despite inflationary increases, things were looking up — especially for the commercial fishery in this region.
At the time, lobster fishermen in lobster fishing areas (LFAs) 33–34 off Nova Scotia were getting north of $16/pound for their catches. For their brethren ...
Collective Bargaining Report a Small Step Forward
Aristotle once wrote, “How many a dispute could have been deflated into a single paragraph if the disputants had dared to define their terms.”
After an embattled 2022 fishing season, with accusations flying like ocean spray in the wind, the Newfoundland and Labrador government did make an attempt to define the possible causes of this year’s harvester/processor disputes in the fishery.
On July 21, N.L. Labour Minister Bernard Davis announced an independent review of the collective ...
Whale Worries: Could AIS Tags be the Answer?
If there was ever any debate before, the question is now unequivocally answered, the Monterey Bay Aquarium is officially off Atlantic Canada’s Christmas card list.
As if the lobster and snow crab industries in this region were not already having a challenging enough season, in early September, the California-based Monterey Bay Aquarium really stepped up to add insult to injury.
As part of its Seafood Watch Program, the organization arbitrarily added American lobster and Canadian snow ...
The By-Products of Warming Waters
“I’m glad it’s finally hot enough to complain about how hot it is.”
Atlantic Canadians love and hate their weather. For generations, due to our specific geography, the weather has always been the number one topic of conversation. Lately, nearly all conversations have centred on the oppressive heat.
Almost every region of Atlantic Canada, from Comfort Cove to Canso to Crapaud to Caraquet, have reported record high temperatures this summer. “Hotter than a two-dollar pistol,” ...
Forward Thinking Versus Dwelling on the Past
The infamous anniversary date of July 2 has now come and gone.
As all Navigator readers are more than aware, that date this year marked the 30th anniversary of then federal Fisheries Minister John Crosbie announcing the closure of the 500-year-old Northern cod fishery.
The anniversary of any historical event is always a time for reflection and looking back on what exactly happened — oftentimes made up of a combination of both facts, fallacies and fantasy.
The funny thing about ...
Has Politics Overshadowed Autonomy?
Scottish academic and philosopher Gordon Graham once said, “decision is a sharp knife that cuts clean and straight; indecision, a dull one that hacks and tears and leaves ragged edges behind it.”
Right now, it is a little too early to analyze the outcome of the recent decision to award more snow crab processing licences in Newfoundland and Labrador, but there appears to be quite a bit of collateral damage surrounding this controversial call.
On May 24, N.L. Fisheries Minister Derrick ...
What Has Been Learned From Perils Past?
There must have been an underlying air of irony as groundfish industry stakeholders met in Barcelona, Spain on April 26 to discuss the ongoing Northern cod fishery improvement project (FIP).
Stakeholders included Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP), Marks & Spencer and Youngs Seafoods from the United Kingdom, Sysco France, High Liner Foods from Canada/United States and producer organizations in Canada, including Ocean Choice International, Icewater Seafoods, the Association of ...
