The Newfoundland and Labrador Standing Fish Price-Setting Panel has decided on the minimum price paid to snow crab harvesters in the 2026 season, though the leading harvesters union continues to dispute the process.
The panel set an opening minimum price of CAD 5.30 (USD 3.80, EUR 3.29) per pound for snow crab, an increase compared to the CAD 4.97 (USD 3.56, EUR 3.09) price that the panel selected in the 2025 season. That proposal was made by the Association of Seafood Producers (ASP), the organization that represents snow crab processors in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
The panel only had one proposal to choose from in 2026, as the Fish Food and Allied Workers Union (FFAW) has effectively abandoned the price-setting panel process. FFAW has heavily criticized the price-setting process, and said in its current state it isn’t working to give harvesters a fair price.
The price-setting panel’s report includes a lengthy description of events leading up to decision, including the back-and-forth between the FFAW and ASP. According to the panel, the two parties originally decided they would engage in collective bargaining between 23 and 27 March, and if an agreement wasn’t reached they would exchange final offers and submissions no later than 4 p.m. on 27 March.
However, the FFAW “refused to commence collaborative bargaining with ASP,” according to the panel.
According to the panel, ASP made multiple attempts to engage with FFAW on negotiating a price, but the FFAW refused to bargain, and the union never gave the panel an offer to consider prior to the 4 p.m. deadline. Then on 28 March, the day after the deadline, FFAW pushed for a delay to the panel hearings and said “one of the Panel’s duties is to provide assistance to parties engaged in collective bargaining under this act,” according to the panel. FFAW also said no collective bargaining had occurred between the two parties, and it alleged the ASP “poisoned the bargaining process.”
FFAW also said at least two positions should be before the panel before it makes a decision, and that the statutes empower the panel to require parties to continue bargaining.
“FFAW argued ‘we trust … that the Panel will fulfill its statutory obligation to ensure that a full opportunity is given to the Parties to reach a negotiated agreement in circumstances where they can bargain fairly and conclusively,’” the panel’s decision states.
However, the panel said it pointed out to the union that no bargaining had occurred because the FFAW chose not to bargain, that the ASP had issued an offer with no response from FFAW, and ASP filed within the stated deadlines with zero evidence they did so in “bad faith.”
“Contrary to your correspondence, there is no evidence before the panel that the ASP has bargained in bad faith in relation to the 2026 crab season,” the panel said it told FFAW in advance of it pricing decision.
It also said that the panel must adhere to the statues and interpret them, and while the FFAW can push for another price-setting mechanism, it doesn’t change the existing legislation.
“The panel is also mindful of the fact that disruption in the fishing industry, such as late starts to the season or tie-ups or lock-outs that are contrary to FICBA [Fishing Industry Collective Bargaining Act], have a profoundly negative effect on the parties, employees, communities, and the Province,” the panel said.
As the FFAW continued to refuse to participate or negotiate with the ASP, the price-setting panel underwent its mandated process on 1 April without any union representatives in attendance.
“The panel confirmed that FFAW and its legal counsel had been provided with the link to the video conference. No one appeared on behalf of FFAW,” the panel said.
The panel added that it’s clear the FFAW will no longer participate in the process set by Newfoundland law.
“FFAW has made it clear … with press clippings and press statements made by FFAW attached, that FFAW no longer wanted to engage in the arbitration process set out by FICBA and its regulations and had no intention of appearing before the panel,” the panel wrote.
In a Facebook post by the FFAW, it said its Crab Negotiating Committee was “ready to engage at any time in meaningful negotiations with ASP or individual processors on a price that will get the fishery started.”
“Harvesters are choosing to sell to buyers offering a fair return, and responsibility for the current situation lies squarely with processors who have refused to negotiate a workable price for this season,” FFAW wrote on its page.
