FFAW tries to pry almost $3,000 in fees from Cox's Cove harvester over three-month season


Reg MacDonald, an inshore fisherman out of Cox’s Cove, Bay of Islands, coined the term Salt-Water Mafia in reference to the FFAW. 

Reg figures that between what the union actually got out of him/wanted to get out of him in fees and charges this year, the total adds up to $2,900.

Here’s his breakdown:

1) $1,200 for 150 pounds of halibut that DFO cut from each harvester on the island’s west coast this year for quota overrun. At the same time, Reg says the FFAW was given a science quota of 45 tonnes of halibut. Reg figures the FFAW “stole” his fish, and puts the $1,200 down as a loss to the FFAW. 

2) $50 fee to register with the Professional Fish Harvesters Certification Board (controlled by the FFAW).

3) $50 paid to the FFAW for 220 lobster trap tags.

4) $300 in FFAW union dues (based on three-months fishing at $25 a week).

5) $200 for dockside monitoring fees (roughly $12 a trip paid to FRC, which is controlled by the FFAW).

6) $200 for halibut tags paid o the FFAW. Reg’s halibut quota is 1,050 pounds.

7) $400 for a 5 cent a pound lobster levy that the FFAW attempted to secretly introduce this year. Reg fishes an average of 200 pounds a day over two months. The secret proposal was rejected by the Association of Seafood Processors. 

8) $500 for a 10 cent a pound levy the FFAW also apparently wanted to introduce on crab. (Reg’s crab quota is 5,200 pounds.) That proposal was also turned down.

TOTAL: $2,900. 


* Harvesters who fish caplin, mackerel and herring have to pay more fees to the FFAW for each species. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The story of Samantha Walsh

Image
Samantha Walsh, a 13-year-old, Grade 8 student from Fleur de Lys on the Baie Verte Peninsula, disappeared one Sunday evening when walking home from her Grandmother's house, and I traveled to the community to research her story. The following feature article was published in The Telegram in February 2000. ••• "Sam, who had stripped off her ski pants when she got to her grandmother’s house, didn’t bother to put them on for the three-minute walk to her house. She went home wearing her coat and hat and long johns covered by flannel pajama pants, pink with black and white lambs, bought the day before at Value Village. But Sam never made it home. 'Loves you, Mom,' were her last words to her mother." ••• Samantha’s story By Ryan Cleary, The Telegram FLEUR DE LYS — The voice is that of a child, rising with a soft and sweet delivery from a room of living hell. It’s a haunting sound, the words of  Salt Water Joys , sung by a very talented and pretty littl
Read more

Nov. 7th, Telegram letter to the editor

Making this a better place I applaud Ryan Cleary’s letter in the Oct. 31 Weekend Telegram (“Time to act, not talk”) touting teamwork as the key to forging a future for rural Newfoundland: it was eerily reflective of the premier’s front-page interview. It’s a prime example on how we all could, and should, put partisan politics and prejudices aside to perpetuate the one commonality that binds us — passion for the promise of this place. The power of that unified front is visible with the government’s prioritizing the H1N1 vaccination roll-outs this week, in light of the international crisis for Newfoundland and Labrador with changes proposed to the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) convention, and the national crisis with Quebec and the Lower Churchill quagmire. The people of this place must come first and we personified that this week. Thus, there is hope for the future. Rise to the occasion Having said that, like the tide, we need to rise to the swell of occasion as well,
Read more

SEA-NL calls on federal Fisheries Minister to reverse decision to limit increase to 2021 northern shrimp quota

Image
  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—Wednesday, May 26th, 2021 The Seaward Enterprises Association, Newfoundland Labrador (SEA-NL) calls on the federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans to reverse her decision to limit the increase to the 2021 northern shrimp quota off southern Labrador and northeastern Newfoundland.   “DFO went outside its own rule book to limit the increase to this year’s quota, which will translate into the loss of more than 2,000 tonnes of shrimp to the province’s inshore fleet,” says Ryan Cleary, interim Executive Director of SEA-NL, a new association to represent the province’s more than 3,000 independent owner-operators. “Enterprise owners are being punished for their sacrifices and Mother Nature’s turnaround. SEA-NL calls on the minster to revisit her decision.” Cleary wrote federal Fisheries and Oceans Minister Bernadette Jordan Tuesday regarding her recent decision to institute a year-over-year limit of 15% to this year’s northern shrimp quota off southern Labrador and nor
Read more