The Fish Food and Allied Workers Union (FFAW), which represents snow crab harvesters in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, have rekindled debate over the price setting process in the province soon after an arbitrator ruled against the union on 2025 crab settlement pricing.
The harvesters union and the Association of Seafood Producers (ASP), which represents processing companies in the province, have repeatedly clashed on pricing negotiations for multiple years. The dispute has lead to harvesters refusing to fish and arbitration against the union over persistent disputes over the price-setting process.
In Newfoundland, the Standard Fish Price Setting Panel sets a minimum price processors must pay fishermen for their catch each year as part of a legally mandated process. However, the FFAW has been pushing back against the process in recent years, and recently pushed for arbitration over a rebate amount that it claimed was manipulated by the ASP.
“ASP companies are manipulating the market and skewing the true end-of-season price. The provincial government must intervene swiftly and with decisive action. Our fishery has become the mockery of Atlantic Canada, and the time for change is long overdue,” FFAW President Dwan Street said in a release ahead of the arbitration.
That arbitration ultimately ended up finding in the ASP’s favor on 12 February, deciding against the FFAW’s claims that the processing group withheld sales information and manipulated markets to reduce the settlement price.
“The Association remains committed to harvesters, workers, processors, and coastal communities, and will work in a positive, collaborative manner with harvesters to find pricing solutions that will support the long-term stability of Newfoundland and Labrador’s snow crab industry,” ASP Executive Director Lorelei Roberts said in a release.
ASP also pushed back against the FFAW’s allegations that it delayed the process, and said that the agreement that resulted in the settlement price was one negotiated with all parties at the start of the 2025 snow crab season.
In the wake of the arbitration decision, the union called on Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Tony Wakeham to “stand up for harvesters and remain steadfast in addressing the lack of competition and pricing system failure.”
In a release, the FFAW said its members are “not willing” to go through negotiations in 2026 “without reassurance that the process will be fair, transparent, and accountable.”
“Frustrations have been held at bay for several weeks while we awaited the arbitration decision,” the union said. “With the rejection of that grievance, harvesters look to the provincial government to implement needed improvements to the price setting mechanism.”
The union also called for the removal of Sheilagh Murphy as the chair of the Standard Fish Price Setting Panel, claiming Murphy made an unauthorized decision to reinterpret the 2025 crab rebate decision, which lead to the arbitration over the rebate price.
“Our panel submission was clear and unambiguous: the settlement price would include all sales of 5-8 ounce sections, regardless of destination and packaging format,” the union wrote in a letter to Newfoundland and Labrador Minister of Labour Mike Goosney. “The Panel’s written decision contained no mention of any limitation to 30lb bulk boxes, nor did it restrict the calculation in any way beyond what was stated in our original offer.”
FFAW claims Murphy made public comments that effectively rewrote the panel’s decision, and exceeded her authority in doing so.
ASP, however, said in a release that the arbitrator found against FFAW’s claims all sales product forms should be included in the settlement calculations.
“At no point during the 2025 price negotiations or the Panel decision was the inclusion of all product forms discussed or agreed to,” the ASP said.
As the debate over pricing continues, Newfoundland Fisheries Minister Loyola O’Driscoll wrote a letter to the union that, starting immediately, new fish processing license applications will begin to go through the department for analysis and recommendation. The FFAW has pushed for greater competition among processors in the province.
“Today’s letter from provincial fisheries minister, Loyola O’Driscoll, promises to deliver on creating competition in the processing industry,” FFAW wrote. “We thank Premier Wakeham and Minister O’Driscoll for their commitment to protecting the owner-operator fishery and breaking the stranglehold held by ASP.”
