Just two months ago, shrimp fishermen in Newfoundland and Labrador celebrated a victory.

The Fish Price Setting Panel had decided that the price of the spring shrimp fishery in Newfoundland and Labrador would be $1.42 a pound, siding with arguments made by the Fish, Food and Allied Workers union. .

At that time, according to the expert panel report of April 24, the demand for prawns in the European market was stable, with the return of the catering industry in the United Kingdom and a positive outlook for prawn sales. Easter in Denmark.

Even though the Russian invasion of Ukraine was two months old at that time, there was no mention of it in the panel report.

“Our prawns were just too expensive. Therefore, we had no spring fishery. We had no fishing last year when the fishermen chose not to fish. They didn’t fish in the spring of 2020 either, and they didn’t fish in the spring of 2017. But when producers can’t buy, it’s the same old language: to the barricades!

– Derek Butler, Executive Director, Seafood Producers Association

The Association of Seafood Processors (ASP) argued in favor of a price of 90 cents per pound, noting, among other things, that the exchange rate did not favor Canadian shrimp exports. The Canadian dollar was worth 10% more than the Danish krone and about 5% more than the pound sterling.

However, the shrimp fishermen soon realized that they had gained nothing.

The processors decided they couldn’t buy shrimp at $1.42 and the spring shrimp fishery didn’t happen.

flip-flop

This week, the pricing committee did an about-face, siding with the ASP and pricing the summer shrimp catch at 90 cents, even though the market update report provided by the Ministry of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture, Gemba Seafood International, “has a generally positive view of the market and anticipates price increases over the next few months”.

The Gemba report, however, warned that the rise in the inflation rate – from 0.5% in February to 9% in the UK in April – could potentially lead to some product substitution in the UK sandwich market.

“This could interrupt the positive development of the ‘take-out’ market after the resolution of the COVID-19 problems,” the Gemba report said, suggesting that consumers could turn to chicken or vegan products for their sandwiches rather than to choose more expensive proteins such as shrimp.

The FFAW had requested $1.36 a pound. In a press release last night, union president Keith Sullivan called the decision ‘incomprehensible’.

Sullivan said, “Given the significant increase in operating costs, particularly for fuel, anglers won’t be close to breaking even at this insulting price.”

The ASP executive director, in a responding press release, said those claims were not true.

Derek Butler pointed out: “The FFAW had an example cost for a shrimp vessel in its submission to the Panel, and it showed the vessel’s gross margin of $43,000 per trip on a shrimp of $1.20 per pound. If you use that same chart with $0.90, the gross margin is still there, especially if some of the overinflated costs are adjusted to more accurate numbers.

Butler added that the panel’s decision on summer shrimp prices was the correct one.

There are good reasons why the $0.90 was fair,” Butler said.

“Our prawns were just too expensive. Therefore, we had no spring fishery. We had no fishing last year when the fishermen chose not to fish. They didn’t fish in the spring of 2020 either, and they didn’t fish in the spring of 2017. But when producers can’t buy, it’s the same old language: to the barricades!

“multi-million dollar corporations are taking over the owner-operator fishery”

Meanwhile, Sullivan said, the union’s shrimp bargaining committee will consult with its fleet to determine what to do next.

The union president, however, warned that the shrimp fishery faces an urgent crisis.

“The northern shrimp fleets have already suffered significant reductions in recent years. Exorbitant increases in operating expenses mean those who depend on the shrimp fishery face economic disaster with little other recourse,” Sullivan said.

He said the province must also step up “to ensure that processors act fairly given the immense privilege of having a license to process in this province.”

Sullivan said, “These multi-million dollar companies have a stranglehold on the owner-operator fishery and will stop at nothing to drive down the price share of the fishermen. Meanwhile, our provincial representatives sit idly by while our members cannot sell their catch.

Butler countered that it’s not just fishermen who are in a difficult situation.

He said seafood producers in Newfoundland and Labrador will lose tens of millions of dollars on crab this year and cannot sustain additional losses on other species.

“If boats are allowed to make money, so can companies. But this year we’re not, and the FFAW clearly thinks we should lose more.

The irony shouldn’t be lost on people, Butler said, adding that fishermen gain access to a common property resource at relatively low cost and then sell their licenses for millions to retire.

Last year, shrimp landings in Newfoundland and Labrador were valued at $128 million. According to DFO statistics, the inshore fleet — vessels up to 65 feet — landed just over 11,000 metric tonnes worth $29.3 million based on an average price of 1. $14.

This year, some fishermen will have fewer shrimp to catch thanks to a decision by DFO to reduce quotas in certain fishing areas.