The Fish, Food, and Allied Workers Union (FFAW), which represents both snow crab harvesters and processing employees in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, has continued to push back against the province's current snow crab price, as the dispute over the minimum price paid to harvesters stretches on.
Each year, a government-mandated price-setting panel sets the minimum price paid to harvesters for snow crab in Newfoundland if the FFAW and the Association of Seafood Producers (ASP) can’t reach an agreement on their own. The process was created in 2006, with an objective of fairly settling pricing disputes in the province ahead of a season's opening date to avoid any disruptions to the fishery.
In recent years, that process has been fraught with disputes, with harvesters tying up boats in 2023, multiple rounds of arbitration, and heavy criticism from the FFAW. That opposition has come to a head in 2026, with the FFAW at one point saying it walked away from talks and then saying it rejoined discussions before the price-setting panel ultimately decided on a proposal from the ASP after the union presented no competing offer.
The situation has continued to escalate from that pricing-panel decision.
Days after the price-setting panel announced the minimum price of CAD 5.30 (USD 3.83, EUR 3.27), photos shared on the FFAW's Facebook account claimed it showed harvesters in the 3Ps crab-fishing region blockading a ship offloading product. Then, on 10 April, the ASP announced the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador granted an injunction order against the FFAW “to ensure harvesters are free to fish their snow crab quota, should they wish to do so.”
“A timely start to the crab fishery is important for harvesters, plant workers, processors, and the province, and the province’s legislation, the Fishing Industry Collective Bargaining Act (FICBA), acknowledges this importance,” the ASP said in a press release.
Under FICBA, the FFAW is not authorized to call for a cessation of business or a strike, and independent arbitrators have in recent years decided against the FFAW in events where snow crab fishermen refused to fish amid calls from the union.
In its statement, ASP said harvesters need to know “it is their own individual business choice to go fishing” in the province.
“When conflict, misinformation, or division is introduced into the system, it delays operations, undermines market opportunities, and ultimately harms harvesters, plant workers, processors, families, and communities,” ASP Executive Director Lorelei Roberts said in a release.
Amid the ongoing dispute, FFAW has put out multiple pieces of information to its members about what rights they have and what a strike would mean for the fishery.
Under current regulations, if harvesters strike, employment insurance payments will immediately stop and the ASP will get the same rights of refusal as harvesters. That means the ASP could refuse to purchase one species to force agreement in another.
In posts on Facebook, FFAW President Dwan Street outlined more facts surrounding the fishery, including some scenarios of what might happen in the event of an industry strike – including a scenario where some harvesters tie up, a minimum legal price is gone, and fishermen gradually start heading out.
“And if history repeats itself? Harvesters start to fish, the price is low, and the fishery starts late. Quality suffers, and there are market implications for years,” Street wrote. “Did you know the fishery started in late July one year post-strike? Again, this is a scenario. These are not scare tactics. Members need facts. There are plenty of harvesters around who can tell you about strikes.”
The union said it is continuing to work to achieve a price that harvesters can universally accept.
“The crab negotiating committee is trying to achieve fairness for all harvesters, and we’re calling on ASP members to come to the table and get this fishery started,” FFAW said in a media statement. “Crab fisheries have not started in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, or Prince Edward Island, meaning that there is still time for Newfoundland product to be the first to the market.”
