FFAW Meets with Provincial Government: Tuesday Deadline for Intervention
January 9, 2026
January 9, 2026
ST. JOHN’S, NL – For over five hours today, representatives of the FFAW Snow Crab Negotiating Committee met with government to discuss the crisis currently facing NL’s fishing industry. The Union presented several ways Premier Wakeham’s government can address the pressure-boiler situation happening right now in the province, and has agreed to meet on Tuesday, January 13 at 11 AM for a satisfactory response.
“Newfoundland and Labrador crab is worth the same as Maritime crab in international markets, yet our harvesters are being significantly shortchanged their fair share due to a corrupt and anti-competitive processing industry,” explains FFAW-Unifor President Dwan Street. “This situation may have been created by past governments and immoral companies, but it’s now up to Premier Wakeham to see this fixed once and for all,” Street says.
The FFAW is demanding the provincial government immediately (1) prevent anyone with a processing license from being able to ship out unprocessed crab, (2) establish regulations and heavy penalties for companies found colluding (for example, not allowing harvesters to move between buyers or engaging in anti-competitive behaviour), (3) the provincial government must establish a new price setting process to set annual minimum prices for snow crab based on true market prices (i.e. Gulf) since ASP has proven they are incapable of negotiating in good faith, and (4) address the stifled competition by issuing processing licenses to anyone interested.
“We fully expect the province to put these solutions in place without any dilution or loopholes. Policies and regulations must be watertight to prevent these companies from engaging in further manipulation and corruption. Unless all conditions are met, we will proceed with a protest that will be the biggest the province has seen to date.” Street says.
A press release from the Association of Seafood Producers (ASP) earlier today spread further misinformation by attempting to justify an otherwise inexplicable gap in NL and Maritime snow crab prices.
“ASP’s narrative that the 2025 settlement is fair is an insult to the intelligence of fish harvesters. These companies may think people are stupid enough to believe their rhetoric and that they can continue manipulating markets at the expense of harvesters and rural NL. That may have gotten them somewhere in the past, but I can tell each and every one of them right now: that will not happen while I am President,” Street says. “We are demanding real change and this time there will be no backing down until there is not a single opportunity left for ASP companies to screw the people of our province.”
The FFAW calls particular attention to the gap in prices between Gulf of St. Lawrence and Newfoundland and Labrador snow crab. From 2015 to 2023 the average price difference was just 9 USD cents and over the last years, with the further reduction in provincial competition, that gap ballooned to 1.06 USD per pound in 2025. Harvesters will not accept this inexplicable disparity in prices and until a satisfactory solution is put in place, both companies and government have been put on notice.
“We will be boots on the ground by Tuesday afternoon if we don’t see the real systemic change needed to fix this situation. There have been many demonstrations over this Union’s history, but mark my words – there is a reckoning coming for this province one way or another,” Street warns.