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Feast of Furey

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The following article was published in an August, 2001 edition of The Telegram. Chuck Furey, left, was a cabinet minister in the government of former Premier Brian Tobin, right.  Out of the limelight Life after politics: Chuck Furey enjoys “every second of every minute of every day” “If you walk along the side of the road and see a starving dog and feed it, it will never bite you. That’s the principle difference between and dog and a man.” — A Mark Twain quote in a letter from John Crosbie to Chuck Furey after Fury’s loss in the federal election of 2000. By Ryan Cleary The Telegram (August, 2001)  Chuck Furey rises from his bed every morning and heads to the bathroom to do his math. He stares into the mirror, settling on the reflection of a man who’s impressed with whom he greets. Nice teeth, thick hair, clear complexion — a politician’s prerequisites. For character, a cleft chin. His is a photograph that could come with the store-bought frame. A host fro...
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SEA-NL calls on federal Fisheries Minister to reverse decision to limit increase to 2021 northern shrimp quota

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  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 Labrado...
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Why are lobster prices lower in Newfoundland?

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The answer should boil the blood of every NL lobster harvester: the answer isn’t known, because fish processors/buyers won’t say.   That’s right, the province’s Fish Price Setting Panel said this past week that “overall prices to harvesters in other jurisdictions were somewhat higher than in Newfoundland,” but in the absence of information from processors, who the hell knows. Some of the price differential has to do with transportations costs. Newfoundland processors are also the only buyers in Atlantic Canada to pay workers comp, and EI benefits on top of wharf prices.   But all those costs don’t come close to the as much as $3-$5 a pound price difference between what's paid to NL harvesters, and mainland harvesters.  At the same time, Newfoundland lobster are the best on the market — two-clawed, with hard shells and high meat content. Another example of NL fishermen being under the thumb of the merchant (like snow crab), and another example (like snow crab) of how the ...
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New voice for fish harvesters; SEA-NL to represent independent owner operators

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The fishing boats of Bay de Verde, Conception Bay.   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Thursday, April 15th, 2021 A new group — the Seafood Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) — is being formed to serve as the independent voice of the province’s more than 3,000 licensed commercial inshore fish harvesters.   “Owner-operators are a distinct group within the province’s fishing industry, and it’s high time they were recognized as such,” says Ryan Cleary, an inshore fisheries advocate, and one of the organizers.   “The fish harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador must realize how much power they would have if they came together,” said Cleary. “No government, no union, no companies could stop them. Owner-operators should be leading their own industry, and a strong organization with a collective voice like SEA-NL could achieve that goal.” Cleary, a former federal Member of Parliament, led the FISH-NL union (2016-2019) in an attempt to break all inshore ...
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'Where did all the f---ing money go?'

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Former offshore trawlermen demand investigation into what happened to millions of dollars generated from offshore crab quota meant to support them, and how it was sold without their knowledge for fraction of value to Conne River First Nation   The offshore trawler Katrina Charlene, best known as "the union boat," was sold in 2019. The Katrina Charlene and the crab quota it was built to fish have been in the news for almost 20 years for their connection to the FFAW. The story made national news in February when a Fishery Officer alleged DFO kept quiet a conviction against the trawler, so as to not embarrass the union. Today, there’s news the quota sold recently for $1 million, a fraction of its estimated value, to Conne River First Nation. The boat and quota have been sold, but questions remain. What happened to the tens of millions of dollars generated by the crab quota? Fisherman’s Road lays out the story as it’s never been told. Final of a three-part series.  By Ryan Cleary...
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