Skip to content

HARVESTERS SAY CAPELIN FISHERY NOT VIABLE AT 36 CENTS

Home
Media Releases
Member Updates
HARVESTERS SAY CAPELIN FISHERY NOT VIABLE AT 36 CENTS
June 23, 2025

On the cusp of the capelin fishery, committees met again on Sunday evening to discuss the pending season and re-iterated the commitment to not fish for 36 cents.

Harvesters are confident in their assessment of the market that shows almost no landings in Iceland and Norway – the two main capelin-producing countries, which means that NL capelin will be the only capelin available this year.

Simple dynamics of supply and demand tell us that when supply goes down, prices go up.

This is reflected in the history of our capelin prices. Capelin fishing bans in Iceland and Norway are not unheard of. As recently as the period from 2019-2021, combined landings in Iceland and Norway were very low. This supply shortage resulted in a spike in the market price and also in the price paid to harvesters (42 cents in 2020 and 46.5 cents in 2021). We are currently in the same restricted supply situation, and there is clear upward pressure on prices, but this has not resulted in a spike in the price to harvesters.

The table below shows the landings from Iceland and Norway, average export price, and prices paid to harvesters. It clearly shows that when supply is constricted, export prices increase and so does the price to harvesters. Market conditions are strong this year, yet that is not reflected in a price to harvesters of 36 cents for Grade A capelin.

These are the reasons capelin harvesters are calling on processors to increase the price schedule from 36 cents to 47 cents for Grade A capelin.

The committee has given ASP a deadline of Wednesday evening to sign on to the 47-cent price schedule, otherwise the fishery will not proceed.

Why Wednesday evening? Because the capelin fishery is set to start any day along the Southern Shore, and the committee has been clear that if the higher price is not signed onto in order for the Southern Shore to have a fishery, then processors will not be getting fish from any other area in 3KL. They will not be successful in pitting harvester against harvester.

Updates will be provided as they become available.

Latest News

YOUNG HARVESTERS COMMITTEE NOMINATIONS OPEN

UPDATE ON CRAB FINAL PAYOUT

FFAW-Unifor Expresses Deep Concern Over Baltic III Wreck as Vessel Further Deteriorates Off Cedar Cove

Loss of Cod from the Offshore Confirm Longstanding Harvester Concerns

FFAW Condemns Federal Budget's Short-Sighted Neglect of Fisheries Sector

News Categories

Dr. Erin Carruthers

Dr. Erin Carruthers is the Science Director and Senior Fisheries Scientist with the Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union (FFAW-Unifor), which is the labour union that represents the owner-operator fleet in Newfoundland and Labrador. The FFAW is committed to research and management that supports healthy oceans, fisheries, and coastal communities. Dr. Carruthers received her Ph. D. in Biology from Memorial University in 2011 followed by a postdoctoral fellowship with the Centre for Fisheries Ecosystems Research. Before coming to Newfoundland, Erin worked as a Research Biologist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada at the St. Andrews Biological Station. Her current research program is co-constructed with fish harvesters and includes research on coastal fishing communities, collaborative longline and trap surveys, and best practices for the avoidance, handling and release of unwanted catch.